DENVER — Yoenis Cespedes brought a whooping stick to the ballpark Friday night and made Coors Field resemble, well, Coors Field.
But the Mets needed it Friday. On a night every fly ball seemed like a threat to leave the yard, Cespedes slugged three homers and drove in seven runs in a 5-for-6 performance that carried the Mets to a 14-9 victory over the Rockies.
The Mets (65-56) moved five games ahead of the Nationals in the NL East — Washington lost 10-3 to Milwaukee — and rinsed from their palates the distaste from losing on a walkoff homer at Baltimore two days earlier.