Mets extend win streak to 5 behind José Butto’s bullpen heroics, Francisco Lindor’s HR vs. Rockies

NEW YORK — José Butto is turning into a godsend for the New York Mets’ beleaguered bullpen.

The converted starter delivered another crucial relief appearance in Saturday’s 7-3 win against the Colorado Rockies, immediately extinguishing a scoring threat and ultimately firing 2 2/3 scoreless innings at Citi Field.

Colorado trailed 4-3 but had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth inning when Butto entered for Mets starter Christian Scott.

Butto got Elias Díaz to hit into an inning-ending double play, then struck out the side in the sixth and added two more punchouts in the seventh.

Butto, 26, is now 3-0 with a save in four relief appearances this season and has not allowed a run in his 7 2/3 innings out of the Mets’ bullpen.

The Mets recalled Butto from Triple-A Syracuse on July 2, adding another option to a pitching staff that lost high-leverage relievers Brooks Raley and Drew Smith to season-ending elbow injuries and that is currently without Sean Reid-Foley (shoulder impingement) and Reed Garrett (elbow inflammation).

Butto pitched to a 3.08 ERA in his seven MLB starts this season but has often been the odd man out of the Mets’ rotation. He began the year at Triple-A despite a strong spring training and spent much of May and all of June in the minors.

The Mets still led 4-3 on Saturday when Butto exited with two runners on and no outs in the eighth inning. Fellow reliever Dedniel Núñez then worked out of that jam, getting Diaz to ground into another double play before ending the inning with a Brenton Doyle pop-out.

The bullpen heroics helped the red-hot Mets extend their winning streak to five games. The Mets entered Saturday with a bullpen ERA of 4.22, which ranked 20th among the 30 MLB teams.

The Mets kicked off the scoring Saturday with a four-run second inning, taking advantage of a critical error by Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers.

A Gold Glove winner in 2022, Rodgers failed to cleanly field a potential inning-ending double-play grounder off the bat of Luis Torrens. He then fired the ball past second base and into right field, allowing the Mets’ first two runs to score.

No. 9 hitter Jeff McNeil then clubbed a two-run double into the right-center gap, putting the Mets up 4-0.

The Rockies answered against Scott with a solo home run by Jake Cave in the third inning and a two-run blast by Charlie Blackmon in the fifth.

Scott, the Mets’ top pitching prospect, allowed three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, marking the second-shortest start of his rookie season.

The Mets broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth when Francisco Lindor struck a three-run home run. It was the shortstop’s 17th homer of the season.

With the win, the Mets improved to 49-45 and remain in the second National League wild-card spot.

The Mets have now won three series in a row. They’ll look to clinch their second consecutive series sweep in Sunday afternoon’s finale against the Rockies, which is their final game before the All-Star break.

Jose Quintana (4-5, 3.91 ERA) is set to pitch for the Mets, while 2021 All-Star Germán Márquez is scheduled to make his return from last year’s Tommy John surgery for the Rockies.

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