Matt Harvey does it all but Mets fall to Rockies

Matt Harvey did everything Wednesday night except sell the half-price tickets at Citi Field. It still wasn't enough for the Mets to avoid another ugly defeat that included a Frank Francisco dugout meltdown.

Harvey struck out nine in six dominant innings and had two hits. But the Mets' bats were quiet again, the defense was sloppy again, Ramon Ramirez and Francisco allowed two runs each and the Rockies won their third in a row here, 5-2.

Francisco was so irate after his ineffective ninth inning that he picked up and threw a water cooler and a medical kit in the dugout. After the game, Francisco sat at his locker with his head in his hands. He declined to speak to reporters.

Mets manager Terry Collins held a team meeting after Tuesday's sloppy 6-2 loss, imploring his players to show more pride. It didn't seem to work. The Mets (57-67) made three defensive mistakes and allowed four runs in the final three innings. They are 11-27 since the All-Star break.

Of Francisco's tirade, Collins said: "I only have an issue with it if he gets hurt. Those water coolers are made for other things besides holding water. Makes them easy to beat up without getting hurt."

Of Harvey, Collins said: "During an absolutely brutal stretch, there's been the bright spots. He's one of them."

Harvey, who has struck out 43 in his first 36 innings, fanned five of the first six batters Wednesday night. He also has five hits in his first 11 at-bats.

Overall, Harvey allowed one run on three hits with two walks in lowering his ERA to 2.75. He was pulled after 102 pitches with the score tied at 1.

"He's got something special," said catcher Kelly Shoppach, who compared Harvey to a young Kerry Wood.

Ramirez came on in the seventh and gave up a go-ahead home run to the first batter he faced, catcher Willin Rosario. Colorado scored another run in the inning when Ramirez couldn't field DJ LeMahieu's suicide-squeeze bunt. Francisco gave up two runs in a ninth inning that included a Shoppach throwing error.

The crowd of 22,204 at least got to boo Jason Bay. Bay, who was in the lineup because he was 8-for-12 lifetime against Rockies starter Jeff Francis, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a pop-up.