These days, it takes a pitcher the caliber of the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner to calm the Mets’ hot bats. But the day after losing to Bumgarner and scoring only one run against the Giants, the Mets got to face Mike Foltynewicz, who was making his season debut for the Braves after being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Whatever residual frustration the Mets had after their tough day against the Giants’ ace, they took out on Foltynewicz, who yielded three home runs in a four-run first inning to the Mets, whose 4-0 win Monday night at Citi Field was their ninth victory in the past 10 games.
Mets starter Bartolo Colon (2-1) pitched eight scoreless innings to record the 220th victory of his career, which moved him past Pedro Martinez into second place in all-times wins by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic. Hall of Famer Juan Marichal is first with 243 wins. Colon allowed seven hits, struck out seven and walked none.
After striking out Mets leadoff man Curtis Granderson to begin the game, Foltynewicz (0-1) was rocked by David Wright, who blasted a 3-and-2 fastball five or six rows up into leftfield seats behind the party deck. Next up was Michael Conforto, who pulled a single to rightfield over a semi-shift by the Braves’ infield.
That brought up Yoenis Cespedes, who has been on a recent power surge that continued when he belted a 96 mph fastball to the seats in deep center just left of the Home Run Apple and the 408-foot sign to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. That gave Cepedes three home runs and 11 RBIs in his past four games.
But the Mets weren’t done by a long shot. First baseman Lucas Duda battled Foltynewicz to a full count before pulling the seventh pitch of the at-bat — a 92 mph fastball — into the seats just inside the rightfield foul line. That put the Mets up 4-0 before Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and Foltynewicz intentionally walked Kevin Plawecki to get to Colon.
Although he is known for his general ineptitude at the plate, Colon came up hacking and and sent a 0-and-1 pitch screaming down the leftfield line before it barely went foul. That brought the fans to their feet, but Colon struck out moments later to end the four-run first.
Still, that marked the 11th time in the past 16 games the Mets have scored in the first inning, and that cushion seemed to provide all the margin for error Colon (2-1) needed on the mound. In typical Colon fashion, he struggled early, giving up six hits through the first three innings, but he stranded five baserunners and got the sixth on a double play.
Starting with the final out of the third inning, Colon settled into a groove and recorded 12 straight Braves outs before a two-out, pinch-hit single by Chase d’Arnaud, the brother of Mets catcher Travis. But a fly-ball out by Mallex Smith ended a scoreless seven innings of work by Colon.
The Mets failed to tack on any runs against Foltynewicz and relievers Bud Norris, Eric O’Flaherty and Alex Ogando. But it didn’t matter as Colon cruised through a three-up, three-down eighth before giving way to closer Jeurys Familia. He allowed a run on two hits before finishing off the win.
..... - Newsday