NEW YORK — Kyle Freeland said it simply and succinctly: “I got punched in the mouth.”
The Rockies’ left-hander was describing his first inning Sunday afternoon when the Mets rapped three singles off him in his first seven pitches and took a 2-0 lead. Freeland may have flinched, just a bit, but he was never knocked down and he never backed down.
Then Freeland proceeded to pitch six scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing only one walk and one hit the rest of the way as Colorado beat the Mets 3-2, completing a three-game sweep at Citi Field.