Burnett outdueled by Colon in loss

Jul 28, 2014; New York, NY, USA Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher A.J. Burnett (34) reacts after pitching against the New York Mets in the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Monday night wasn’t the first time veteran starters A.J. Burnett and Bartolo Colon pitched together in New York.  The two were teammates with the New York Yankees at one time.

In their starts Monday night, they both had plenty of scouts checking in.  Neither pitcher had their best outing, but Colon may have upped his trade value much more.

The Mets’ starter went 7.2 innings and struck out six.  Despite allowing ten hits, Colon outdueled Burnett in a 7-1 Mets win.

From the start Burnett struggled, walking the first batter he faced and the next one doubling to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead.  The Mets scored four runs in the first inning and that in itself would have been enough to top the Phillies.

“Balls were in the middle, were not on the corners,” said Burnett.  “So, yeah, it was a brutal effort.”

Things got worse for the Phillies starter in his last inning of work.  With two outs in the fifth inning he allowed a three-run home run off the bat of Travis d’Arnaud to make it 7-0 Mets.

Philadelphia’s offense didn’t do nearly enough to help regain ground.  While the Phillies outhit the Mets 13-9 and left 12 runners on base.

Only two Phillies hits were for extra bases.  In the eighth inning they got back-to-back doubles from Domonic Brown and Carlos Ruiz.  Brown scored easily off Ruiz’s fourth double in his last four games off the disabled list.  Ruiz was 4-for-4, raising his batting average to .272.

Ryan Howard was in the starting lineup despite recent talk of a platoon at first base.  He went 0-for-5 in the three hole and struck out.

Darin Ruf was used as a pinch hitter on his 28th birthday, but grounded out to third.

Rookie Mario Hollands threw two perfect innings and recorded a strikeout.  He threw just 16 pitches, 12 of them for strikes.