Remembering Mets History (2015) Bartolo Colon's 31 Scoreless Innings Streak

2015 was an up & down year for Bartolo Colon, he began the year at 4-0 and got as good as 6-1 with a 3.30 ERA by mid-May. By mid-June he was at 9-4 until he hit a snag and lost his next six decisions.

As August began, he finally earned a win in Miami, allowing just one run in seven innings. His next starts were up & down as he was 10-11 with an ERA near five by late August, then the ageless wonder went on a record setting roll.

August 26th: On this night Bartolo Colon took the mound for the first place Mets (70-56) in Philadelphia, against Pete Mackanin's last place Phillies (50-77).

The Mets gave Colon a quick 3-0 lead as they jumped on starter Jerad Eickhoff in the 1st inning.

Curtis Granderson reached on an error; Yoenis Cespedes then reached on an infield single. As Daniel Murphy grounded out, Grandy scored making 1-0. Michael Cuddyer doubled down the left field line scoring Cespedes & Cuddyer would score on a Michael Conforto base hit.

On the mound Colom shut out the Phillies for seven innings, allowing just five hits & two walks. He struck out eight and went on to earn the win putting him at .500 (11-11) on the year. It was the first time since his July 1st start that he did not allow a run.

The Mets went on to win it 9-4, Cuddyer added a solo HR in the 8th inning & Murph drove in his second run of the game. Yoenis Cespedes tripled home a run; Conforto & Juan Uribe added RBI hits as well. At the plate Colon went 0-3.

August 29th: In a disappointing 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox, Manager Terry Collins used Colon in a rare relief appearance to help a depleted bullpen. The ageless wonder Colon came on & pitched a scoreless, 9th inning striking out two.

August 31st: The Philadelphia Phillies came to New York as the Mets were riding a 5 1/2 game first place lead over the Washington Nationals.

Colon went up against Jerad Eickhoff once again. This time Colon pitched eight shutout innings, allowing just four hits & one walk. He struck out nine to match his season high, earning his 12th win (12-11). His scoreless innings streak was now up to 16.

In the 5th inning he even got a base hit & scored on Curtis Granderson's 23rd HR of the year. Michael Conforto added a solo shot to contribute to the Mets 3-1 win.

That week Bartolo Colon won the NL Player of the Week Award.

September 5th: The first place Mets, now 15 games over .500 (75-60) visited South Florida for a matchup between Dan Jennings' third place Miami Marlins (56-80).

Colon may have had his best outing to date for the year as he pitched a complete game shutout, without walking anyone. He gave up nine hits & struck out just two. The win was easy as the Mets gave him seven runs to play with.

Colon now leading the Mets staff with 13 wins, became the first Mets pitcher to throw a complete game in the 2015 season. He also became the oldest Mets pitcher to throw a shut out at age 42. Colon gave the bullpen a much-needed rest and extended his scoreless streak to 25 innings.

With his glove he made one of the most outstanding plays of the year as he fielded a slow grounder along the first base line, he then tossed the ball behind his back right on target to first baseman Daniel Murphy's glove for the amazing out. Everyone had a smile on their face as he entered the dugout being congratulated by his teammates.

The Mets hit three HRs that night, a three-run shot from Travis d'Arnaud, a two-run shot from Juan Lagares & a solo shot from Wilmer Flores.

September 10th: The first place Mets (79-61) were fresh off a sweep of the second place Nationals in D.C. The Met lead was now seven games & a magic number was set at 17 to clinch the Division.

Colon took the mound trying to extend his streak in Atlanta against the struggling Braves (56-85) Freddi Gonzalez's Braves trailed the Mets by 22 1/2 games in the standings.

Colon came on and threw six more scoreless innings, not giving up a run until a Jace Peterson triple scored Nick Swisher to end the streak at 31 innings. Colon fell just shy of the Mets franchise record of 32 2/3 scoreless innings set by R.A. Dickey. 

When Colon reached the 28-inning mark, he made history passing Cy Young & Warren Spahn as pitchers 42 years of age or older to not allow a run in that many innings.

The Mets rolled along to a 7-2 win, as Colon bested his record to 14-11 with a 4.13 ERA, 129 strike outs & just 22 walks in 176 innings pitched (29 starts). Colon has the best walks per nine innings ratios in the NL.

The Mets starting the scoring in the 4th on a Kevin Plawecki double that brought in two runs. And then yes, the man himself; Bartolo Colon added his own RBI base to make it 3-0 Mets.

For Colon it was his 8th hit of the year & his fourth RBI, both career highs. He raised his batting average to .148 on the season as well.

Plawecki added another RBI later on, and Juan Uribe had a big three hit three RBI night to contribute.

Colon would get three more starts allowing three runs in each game, pitching five or more innings in each outing as well. He took two more losses with a no decision & made a relief appearance in the Mets 1-0 win, in the final game of the regular season coming against the Washington Nat's.

Colon finished the year at 14-13, tied with Jacob deGrom for most wins on the Mets staff. His 14 wins were also 7th most wins in the NL. He posted a 4.16 ERA, struck out 136 batters while walking just 24 in 194 innings of work (most innings pitched on the Met staff). 

His 1.110 walks per nine innings was the best in the league & his strike outs per walk ratio of 5.667 fourth best. He also allowed the most hits in the league (217) & 25 HRs in 33 games (31 starts which was most on the Met staff).