DENVER (AP) -- The play was a blur, but the pain in Mike Piazza's right wrist was perfectly clear.

The All-Star catcher is expected to be out of New York's lineup for at least a few days after spraining his wrist and hyperextending his elbow Friday night in the Mets' 12-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

The injury came during a play at the plate in the fifth inning. As Todd Helton started his feet-first slide, Edgardo Alfonzo's throw skipped in the dirt and Piazza came away wincing after he made contact with Helton.

"I don't know what happened," Piazza said. "I looked at the replay. It looked like my hand got in there and it just jammed.

"Immediately, I felt some pain in my wrist. Initially, I thought it was going to be OK. I tried to shake it off, but it was pretty persistent. I'm just going to play it by ear and hopefully (Saturday) it will be feeling better."

Piazza, who played through a thumb injury during New York's playoff run last year, was taken to Rose Medical Center for X-rays, which were negative. He returned to the clubhouse after the game with his wrist in a split.

"The diagnosis right now is we're going to lose him for some days, there's no doubt about that," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "If that diagnosis is correct, we might have dodged a bullet."

The Mets, who have lost three straight after a nine-game winning streak, trailed 6-0 when Piazza left. They never recovered as Mike Hampton (2-4) equaled his loss total from all of 1999.

After allowing six runs in the third, Hampton took his frustration out on a water cooler, bashing it four times with his forearm.

"I think it (the frustration) was pretty visible," Hampton said. "You can draw your own conclusions."

The runner-up in last year's NL Cy Young Award voting, Hampton has struggled to measure up to last year's standards when he went 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA for the Houston Astros.

Expected to be New York's ace after an offseason trade, the left-hander has allowed 24 earned runs with 30 walks in six starts covering 33 1/3 innings.

"I just keep getting the same questions," Hampton said. "I'm going to stick to it. I'm going to battle you until you beat me. So far this year I've been getting beat. I'm the same man out on the mound. I'm going to go after you and take my chances."

The Rockies tagged Hampton for seven runs, six of them earned, and eight hits in five innings. They batted around twice, scoring six runs in the third and four runs in the fifth.

"When you're facing a guy like Hampton, you're always hoping that you score enough because he's going to battle you on every at-bat and every pitch," Rockies manager Buddy Bell said.

Helton broke out of a 1-for-15 slump with three hits, and Jeff Cirillo drove in three runs for the Rockies. Larry Walker and Neifi Perez also had three hits apiece.

Pedro Astacio (2-2), making his first start in nine days, gave up five runs and 12 hits in 6 2/3 innings. The Mets finished him with five straight two-out hits to cut Colorado's lead to 11-5.

The Rockies, playing only their eighth home game, never trailed as they took a 6-0 lead in the third on the strength of two walks and five straight hits off Hampton.

After Hampton walked Brian Hunter and Mike Lansing, Walker capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a two-run triple into right-center field. Cirillo, Helton and Jeffrey Hammonds added RBI hits, and Brent Mayne hit a sacrifice fly.

Game notes
Hampton had been 4-0 at Coors Field. ... Colorado RHP Jerry Dipoto was placed on the 15-day DL and is scheduled to have surgery next week to repair a bulging disk below his neck. The Rockies recalled Mike DeJean from Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... RHP Eric Cammack made his major league debut for the Mets. He gave up four runs and four hits in two innings. With Piazza injured, the Mets plan to call up catcher Vance Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk. Cammack will be sent back to the minors. ... Astacio made his first start since April 19. His scheduled start Monday was rained out, and he did not travel with the team to Montreal because he did not want to risk visa problems.