In Denver for a couple days.

I have a week off from the job. I had planned a more ambitous westbound itinerary but scaled it back a little off concern I’m still not moving at the pace I like post-surgery.

I flew out to Denver Sunday morning, dropped my bag off at the hotel and headed to the Coors Field box office. I asked for the “cheapest ticket available” and was handed a $16 ducat on the upper level. Once inside, I wandered the open concourse and slipped into lower level seats in sections unmanned by ushers. I sipped on local IPA’s. Notable were the Titan IPA made in Denver by the Great Divide Brewery and Upslope, made by the brewery with the same name in Boulder. Both were tasty.

It was windy, overcast and looked like it wanted to rain. First pitch temp was 53 degrees but there were moments throughout the game when the sun came out and it was beautiful.

The Mets were looking to avoid the sweep – and I thought for sure they would – but Conforts and DeAza both butchered balls that either led to runs or lengthened the game for Met starting pitcher Jake DeGrom.

Terry pulled Jake at 102 pitches bottom seven. He had walked the lead-off batter in the seventh with a one-run lead and then threw a wild pitch. He struck out the eight man in the order and then the Rockies sent Ryan Raburn into the on-deck circle. That was it for Jake. In comes Henderson and then Raburn clobbers a 2-0 offering to put the Rocks ahead 4-3.

That was it. The Mets had a chance to tie in the eighth after Lagares pinch-hit for Conforts and ripped a double. The Rocks gave Cess a pass but then Duda hit a nubber to third and Lagares stepped around the fielder to avoid contact. It didn’t appear to be an egregious departure from the path but the second base umpire called Juan out and that ended the rally. Terry came out to discuss but didn’t appear to put up an argument.

Colorado has a great offensive lineup. They have serious hitters all up and down it. Story, Cargo, Arenado, LeMathieu. Blackmon is scrappy. Reynolds is hitting and they have Raburn off the bench. I think you have to make Colorado a contender in that division. As far as the Mets, they’ll obviously be ok. I don’t love Terry’s skittishness about using Conforto against lefties. It appears DeAza is not gonna give you much off the bench. And there remain doubts about legit RH relief in the 7th and 8th innings. But their starters are too dominant not to keep them in pretty much every game.

I walked down Larimer after the game to try the IPA’s at both the Ratio and Our Mutual Friend breweries. Friend had a friendlier vibe in the tap room itself and their Citra Feyd double IPA was delish. Its potency effectively brought my night to an early conclusion.

I’ll stay a couple more days. I’m gonna see the Titus Andronicus/La Sera gig here on Tuesday night before returning to New York on Wednesday.

The weather forecast here is not good. An inch of rain is expected today with temps in the upper 40’s.