Back in May and June, it would have been unthinkable to even think about the Mets reaching 50 wins by the All-Star break.
The team ultimately fell one win short of that total after an 8-5 loss to the Rockies at Citi Field on Sunday ended a five-game home winning streak.
Starting pitcher Jose Quintana gave up four of the six home runs the Mets allowed: three by Michael Toglia and two by Ezequiel Tovar.
The Mets had a dismal 24-35 record as of June 2, but manager Carlos Mendoza’s resurgent team won 25 of their final 36 games before the four-day break.
The Mets are in third place in the National League wild card standings with a 49-46 record heading into a three-game series against the Marlins, starting Friday in Miami.
Pete Alonso, the team’s lone All-Star representative and again participating in Monday’s annual Home Run Derby, hit a two-run homer and Jose Iglesias had four hits for the Mets.
Quintana had a 2.82 ERA in his previous 10 starts, but left the game with two outs in the sixth inning and the team trailing 5-3.
Quintana struck out two batters to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead in the first innings of the game. The veteran left-hander gave up a first-pitch changeup to Tovar, who hit it to second base in left field for a two-run homer.
Rockies starter Germán Márquez held the Mets scoreless through three innings, but Alonso hit a two-run homer to left field in the fourth inning after an infield single by Francisco Álvarez to tie the game at 2-2.
It was Alonso’s 19th win of the season, the most for the team, but his first since July 2nd.
Francisco Lindor walked with the bases loaded later in the inning to give the Mets the lead, but Toglia tied the game again with a solo homer to right field off Quintana, who led off the fifth inning.
The former All-Star hit two more home runs in the sixth inning, a 430-foot homer to center field by Brenton Doyle and a second solo homer to left field by Toglia to give Colorado a 5-3 lead.
Tovar hit his second home run of the game in the seventh inning, a two-run homer off Adrian Hauser.
Tovar hit his third home run of the game against Hauser in the eighth inning to put the Mets up by five runs.
Rockies relief pitcher Nick Mears struck out Alvarez, Alonso and Mark Vientos with two runners on base, squandering the Rockies’ only chance to close the gap in the bottom of the inning.
Jeff McNeil’s RBI double off left-hander Jalen Beeks put the Mets up 8-4 in the eighth inning.
Lindor walked with one out to load the bases, but the Mets could only score one more run in the inning on a fielder’s choice grounder by Brandon Nimmo.
Alvarez’s game-tying three-run home run attempt was blocked on the warning track, ending the threat.
Singles by Vientos and Iglesias put runners on base again in the ninth inning, but right-hander Victor Vodnick struck out Tyrone Taylor and pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez for the final out.
