Before you read any further, let me assure you that there is nothing wrong with your computer screen. What you are about to read about the New York Mets is something so unbelievable that I actually had to replay it several times before I realized it really happened.
If you don’t already know, New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon hit his first professional home run tonight at the age of 42 (and 349 days), setting a record as the oldest player ever to hit his first career homer, bumping Randy Johnson (40 years, 9 days) out of the record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. His teammates jokingly gave him the silent treatment as he headed back to the dugout. It was seriously one of the best moments of the New York Mets this year.
“The impossible has happened,” New York Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen announced.
Colon’s two-run homerun – which took him a little more than 30 seconds to trot around the bases — and his solid 6-2/3 innings pitched helped to lift the Mets to a 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. He allowed the Padres to have three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out five and earned his 221st career win, ranking second among Dominican-born pitchers.
The Mets drove in two runs in the first inning, followed it up with another two runs in the second inning and then capped off the top of the 9th with another deuce. The Padres answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the third but that was really all about it, ending with 8 hits on the night.
New York Mets’ David Wright also had an incredible night, reaching base all five times he was up to bat. There were three walks, a single and then a homerun as well as a stolen base. After Wright popped one over the homerun wall, Michael Conforto played copycat and also hit a homerun in the 9th inning to give the Mets another much-needed insurance run on back-to-back homeruns. Thankfully, the shot helped Conforto to break a drought of 0-17.
The Mets as a team have gone back-to-back with homeruns six times this year. (Okay, let’s review – Bartolo Colon hit a HOMERUN TODAY! Does anything else really matter?)
San Diego’s Jemile Weeks had a scary moment running to first base and collapsing with what ended up being a right hamstring strain.
Colon gets the win (and the ball which the fan who caught it – a Mets fan – returned the ball to Colon in exchange for getting to meet the pitcher). The Mets had lost the last two games against the Padres and finish the four game series on Saturday at 4:40pm EST.
Tomorrow Matt Harvey, who has been struggling this season, tries to improve his 2-4 record and find his strike and improve on his 4.76 ERA as the Mets face the Padres’ right -hander Andrew Cashner (2-2, 4.85) in the 4:40 p.m. ET series finale. The Mets then will head over to Los Angeles for a four-game series against the Dodgers.
On a side note, catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s tried to throw after suffering a strained rotator cuff, but unfortunately he was shut down and asked to stop because he suffered discomfort and stopped the rehab program Saturday, Terry Collins said.
