Bartolo Colon continues to defy what sports fans have come to understand about aging. The New York Mets starting pitcher gave up two runs to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night. However, before his night was over, Colon made history.
The right-hander passed both Warren Spahn and Cy Young to break the record for most consecutive scoreless innings for a pitcher 42 years of age or older, per MLB Stat of the Day:
He officially set the new mark following a lineout by A.J. Pierzynski in the bottom of the third:
According to ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin, Colon was just 1.2 innings shy of tying R.A. Dickey’s franchise record for scoreless innings (32.2).
As if creating a new MLB benchmark wasn’t enough for Colon, he also picked up his eighth hit of the season, which is always cause for celebration, per the Mets’ Twitter account:
The 42-year-old has been a great source of entertainment this year, whether it’s carrying his bat halfway up the first-base line or flipping the ball behind his back to get an out at first. Because of the comedic moments he can produce, it’s easy to forget how well Colon continues to perform, especially considering his age. His scoreless-innings record puts that level of performance into perspective.
It will be great to see if the Mets can make the playoffs to give Colon at least one more chance to shine in the postseason.
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