The Walk Off: Bartolo Colon passes Pedro Martinez on wins list
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
There’s little 42-year-old New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon can do to surprise us anymore. He’s outlasted so many players from his era, completely reinvented himself as a pitcher and is still effective despite his age. When someone says “hey, did you see Bartolo did X,” we usually respond with “of course he did.”
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But Colon’s latest accomplishment deserves a fair amount of recognition. With his win Monday night against the Atlanta Braves, Colon passed Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez on the all-time wins list.
Colon was masterful during the 4-1 victory. The big righty went eight shutout innings, giving up seven hits. Colon did not issue a walk, but managed seven strikeouts during the contest. The performance was more than enough to earn Colon his 220th career win.
Following the game, Mets manager Terry Collins had nothing but great things to say about Colon’s most recent accolade, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
“You know, he hasn’t shown much emotion, but I think he should,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “I think it’s truly a great honor. Pedro, as great as he was — to move ahead of him in wins, it shows the durability of what Bartolo’s had to go through to get to this point.”
Collins hit it right on the head, it’s Colon’s durability that has made him such a special player. He’s now in his 19th professional season and, after Monday’s start, currently has a 2.56 ERA. At 42, he’s outlasted Father Time much longer than most players.
While his age may eventually catch up to him, Colon looks like the type of guy who can pitch in the majors until he’s 50.
TOP PERFORMERS
Mike Trout: The Los Angeles Angels may have lost Monday’s game to the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 8-5, but Mike Trout wasn’t to blame. The 24-year-old went 4-for-5 at the plate, hitting his sixth home run of the season. He also added three singles and stole a base in a losing effort.
Gio Gonzalez: Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez turned in a fine start against the defending World Series champs. Gonzalez kept the Kansas City Royals off the board for six innings. He allowed just four hits and walked two. Gonzalez, normally a strikeout pitcher, only managed one whiff during the 2-0 victory. Still, the performance fueled his strong start to open the year. Through five games, Gonzalez now has a 1.15 ERA.
[Elsewhere: This Adam Wainwright home run proves pitchers can rake]
Nomar Mazara: The Texas Rangers rookie extraordinaire proved that his April was no fluke. Mazara managed two hits during the 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, including a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning. He didn’t just show off at the plate, though. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Mazara caught a fly ball out in right and rifled the ball home to snag Michael Saunders at the plate. The run would have tied the game had it not been for Mazara’s strong arm.
Jose Berrios: It’s not often you get your first major-league win by out-dueling a reigning Cy Young winner, but that’s exactly what happened to Minnesota Twins pitcher Jose Berrios. Berrios out-pitched Dallas Keuchel and stifled the Houston Astros bats during the 6-2 win. Berrios allowed two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out eight during the contest. While Berrios didn’t have his usual control, walking five, we’re willing to give him a pass since he picked up his first-ever win.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
The Atlanta Braves didn’t have a lot of high points during Monday’s 4-1 loss to the New York Mets, but Nick Markakis gave fans something to cheer about at least once during the contest. In the bottom of the third inning, Lucas Duda hit a low line drive out to right field. Markakis charged in on the ball, dove at the last second and managed to make the catch. The Braves were already down 4-0 at the time, but at least Markakis came up with a great highlight.
THE SCOREBOARD
Cubs 7, Pirates 2: The Cubs tagged Pirates ace Gerrit Cole for five earned runs over just 4 2/3 innings. Dexter Fowler continued his hot-hitting ways, going 2-for-4 and running his batting average to .357 on the year.
Giants 9, Reds 6: Johnny Cueto had a tough start, allowing six runs over five innings, but a Brandon Crawford three-run shot in the seventh inning gave San Francisco the win.
Cardinals 10, Phillies 3: Adam Wainwright not only won the game, but also hit a home run to the second deck. Six other Cardinals contributed at least one RBI during the win.
Mariners 4, Athletics 3: Khris Davis smashed two home runs for the A’s, but it wasn’t enough against Nathan Karns and the Mariners.
Padres 2, Rockies 1: Matt Kemp’s two-run double in the first inning was all the Padres needed to get past Jon Gray and the Rockies.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
