McMahon does his homework -- and it's paying off

DENVER -- Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon figured it was time to take the game home with him, and he brought back his power stroke.

McMahon cracked a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh that lifted the Rockies to a 10-7 victory over the Mets on Saturday night at Coors Field.

The shot came a day after McMahon ended a 27-game and 103 at-bat homerless streak.

McMahon’s batting average has just once touched .250 this season. He has struck out far too frequently and has seldom pulled the ball with authority. Like many slumps, this one brought its share of people offering tips and information. No matter how helpfully such advice is presented, there’s the inner voice that reminds the player not to lose himself.

It’s a lot to process in the heat of competition, so McMahon saved some of his thinking for his time away from the park.

“I sat down with the hitting coaches, talked about some things, looked at some video,” said McMahon, who joined catcher Elias Díaz and injured first baseman C.J. Cron for the team lead with six homers. “They threw some pretty good information at me that was pretty easy to understand.

“I actually went home, did a little bit more homework on it all. What we’ve been talking about, what we’ve been working on, is starting to show up.”

What’s odd is the questions are complicated when a player struggles, but it all sounds simple when he finds his swing.

“It’s different combinations, different sequencing,” McMahon said. “The best guys, they just move the best: step-hips-hands. A lot of times, my hands will start to come before my hips. So one thing I’m focusing on is getting off good swings, and being OK with getting jammed. I’m just letting the timing take over and trusting my athletic ability.”

McMahon’s shot off Jeff Brigham on Saturday gave the Rockies an 8-7 lead in a game they once led 6-0 -- courtesy, in part, of a five-run second inning against star Mets starter Justin Verlander.

The thriller had significance beyond McMahon’s homer. It improved the Rockies to 2-24 in games they trailed after six innings -- and 27-0 when ahead after seven.

“You don't want to just be the front-runner,” McMahon said. “You won't be able to come back in games.”

After struggling at Coors at the start of the year, the victory clinched a winning homestand (4-2 against the Marlins and Mets going into Sunday’s finale) and lifted the Rockies’ Coors record to 14-14.

Igniting McMahon, who went 2-for-5 on Saturday to raise his batting average to .227, helps the whole operation.

McMahon has three seasons with at least 20 home runs, but there has always been the feeling there is more within his bat. And he has hit them in bunches -- 12 from Aug. 4 to Oct. 5 to end last season, as an example. Those runs often come when McMahon drives balls to the pull side. While his spray chart this year shows some well-driven pull-side homers, it is also populated with softer hits to the middle and the opposite way.

“I like seeing him pull the ball with authority,” said manager Bud Black, who tied Don Baylor for second in most managerial wins in Rockies history with 440. “You saw it yesterday. You saw a ball in the gap. You saw a home run. You saw another home run today on the pull side. That means he’s getting the bat out front, and that’s a good sign.

“Mac’s capable of, I don’t want to say carrying us, but he’s capable of a lot of good things to help us win. So he’s capable of carrying us.”

This is where what seems like a simple answer becomes complicated. McMahon is most dangerous when he shows the ability to pull pitches out of the park, but he feels his swing is best when his thought process is the opposite.

“It’s so funny,” McMahon said. “I probably am catching it out in front, but all I’m trying to do is catch it deeper -- I think it’s helping me stay a little more connected, and allowing my bat to work a little bit faster.”

If McMahon’s study sessions bring a swing that combine the mental keys with more balls driven pull side and out of the park, he can produce numbers that will just allow him to relax when he goes home.

“You never want to rely on the results,” McMahon said. “But the results definitely help.”