Colón Wins 200th Game as Mets Defeat the Phillies

Bartolo Colón has joined an elite Major League Baseball club…

The 41-year-old Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets pitched eight innings for his 200th career victory, as the teamheld on for a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Bartolo Colón

Colon joined Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal as the only Dominican-born pitchers to reach 200 victories.

“I’m really happy to be in that category,” Colon said through an interpreter. “I’m expecting a call from those guys.”

He gave up one run and six hits, struck out six and walked none.

“It’s amazing that he’s still able to perform like he does,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Two hundred wins, that’s a lot of wins.”

Colon (11-9) didn’t allow a batter to reach second base except for Byrd, who led off the seventh with a drive over the wall in left for his 22nd homer. Colon departed after throwing 107 pitches.

“He throws a lot of fastballs but he changes speeds with them making it difficult to gauge the velocity,” said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg.

Philadelphia’s A.J. Burnett (6-12) surrendered 11 hits, tying a season high, resulting in five runs in his third consecutive loss. The right-hander struck out eight and walked two while falling to 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA in his last five starts.

The Mets nearly blew it in the ninth, when Philadelphia scored three runs on three hits.

Chase Utley doubled and Ryan Howard walked against left-hander Dana Eveland. Closer Jenrry Mejia relieved Eveland and Byrd singled to load the bases. Sizemore then lined a two-run double off the wall in right that trimmed New York’s lead to 5-3.

“I was praying for the ball to stay in the ballpark,” Colon said. “Thanks to Mejia for doing his job and holding his composure on the mound.”

After Cody Asche had a run-scoring groundout, Mejia struck out pinch-hitter Reid Brignac for his 17th save in 19 opportunities.

Santana Pitches the First No-Hitter in New York Mets’ History

It’s hard to believe that in more than 8,000 games, the New York Mets had never pitched a no-hitter… But that all changed in game 8,020, thanks to Johan Santana.

The 33-year-old Venezuelan pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets’ history on Friday in the Mets’ 8-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Johan Santana

Aided by an umpire’s missed call and an incredible catch by a left fielder who grew up in Queens as a Mets fan, Santana’s start is also the first no-hitter of his career.

In the victory over the reigning World Series champions, Santana, who missed last season because of shoulder surgery, walked five and struck out eight, while testing the limits of his comeback.

Mets manager Terry Collins said before the game that he wanted to limit Santana to a maximum of 110-115 pitches. Santana finished with a career-high 134.

Johan Santana

Afterward, an emotional Collins expressed his trepidation about going after history instead of preserving Santana’s long-term health.

“I just couldn’t take him out,” Collins said.

In the ninth inning with 27,609 fans all standing, Santana’s final pitch, a 3-2 change-up, resulted in David Freese swinging and missing. Santana’s teammates all stormed the mound to celebrate.

Johan Santana

“I don’t think I’ve ever even thrown a no-hitter in video games,” Santana said of his feat.

But that’s not all… Santana became just the eighth player in MLB history to throw a no-hitter against the defending World Series champions and the first since former Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan completed the feat against the Oakland Athletics in 1990.

After the final out, Santana did interviews with the Mets’ TV and radio station before he walked into the clubhouse.

“We did this together,” Santana said. “It is not just about me. We had a great, great game tonight. Everyone participated. We did the little things the way we were supposed to do it. And it worked out good. I thanked them because we as a team made history tonight.”