Mets vs. Twins Recap: Bartolo Colon leads the Mets to victory

The Mets started off their final home stand of the season with a 3-0 win over the Twins. The Mets got a plethora of good news on the injury front before the game, but their unflappable 43-year-old pitcher was the one who stood out on Friday night.

Bartolo Colon is a legitimate Gold Glove candidate and he again showed off his skills in the first, when he snagged a ball off of Jorge Polanco’s bat. He quickly turned and threw the ball to second, where Asdrubal Cabrera completed the 1-6-3 double play.

Colon also kept his cool in the third when he walked Joe Mauer to load the bases with two outs. He got Polanco again, this time with a fly out to left. The fourth, however, did not start off well for the Mets, when Yoenis Cespedes was a little too casual with a ball lined his way to start the inning. The ball fell in for an error on Cespedes, but Colon took care of that mistake when he picked off Max Kepler.

Colon went into cruise control after that error, and he allowed only one more baserunner in his final innings of work. When his night was done, he had tossed seven shutout innings. He only allowed three hits, issued two walks, and he struck out six.

The Mets’ offense had a chance to get on the board early when they loaded the bases in the first. Young Twins starter Jose Berrios issued three walks in the inning, but T.J. Rivera could not bring them home when he flew out to center field end the threat.

Berrios could not make it through the lineup a second time unscathed. Jose Reyes led off the third with a home run, and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a blast of his own one batter later.

It remained 2-0 until the seventh, when the Mets tacked on another run. Alejandro De Aza singled in his pinch-hit appearance and moved to second when Cabrera walked. De Aza came home when Cespedes hit a ball up the middle for a RBI single to make it 3-0.

In the final innings, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia were tasked with keeping the shutout intact. Reed looked absolutely dominant in his inning of work, and he breezed through the bottom of the Twins’ lineup.

It was not as easy for Familia, who allowed the tying run to come to plate in the ninth after issuing two walks in the inning. Pinch-hitter Kennys Vargas hit one to left that Cespedes was able to secure, and victory belonged to the Mets.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Bartolo Colon +36.6%, Jose Reyes +12.6%, Asdrubal Cabrera +10.4%
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jose Reyes home run in third
Teh sux0rest play: Joe Mauer walk in third
Total pitcher WPA: +42.5%
Total batter WPA: +7.5%
GWRBI!: Yoenis Cespedes