For openers, ‘old’ faithful Colon was the right choice

WASHINGTON — Matt Harvey knew. Of course he did.

When Terry Collins announced two weeks ago baseball fossil Bartolo Colon would be the Mets Opening Day starter, and not Jacob deGrom or Harvey, there was no panic from the Mets.

"Bartolo's got that covered,'' Harvey said.

Don't forget Harvey had proclaimed months earlier he was looking at April 6 as a win over the Nationals.

Bartolo had it covered, pitching six strong innings, striking out eight, in the Mets 3-1 victory over the Nats and Max Scherzer on Monday before a sellout crowd of 42,295 at Nationals Park.

Colon allowed one run, a Bryce Harper home run in the fourth, and three hits. Lucas Duda came up with the winning hit for the Mets, a two-run single in the sixth.

Colon's two-seamer was too much once again at the age of 41, soon to be 42.

Another veteran, Michael Cuddyer, had this conversation with Colon before the game.

"I was asking him how many Opening Days he's had,'' Cuddyer said. "He told me, 'All Opening Day is, is the first game.' And it's the truth.

"It's nice to have that guy who has that demeanor on the mound for the first game because he is not going to get caught up in the pageantry of Opening Day.

"And you saw what he did out there.''

Now the Mets, who were looking to get off to a quick start, have to win one of the next two games, Wednesday or Harvey on Thursday, to take the series and head to Atlanta in good shape to start the season — even though closer Jenrry Mejia has a bad elbow.

The win went to Colon, the save to Buddy Carlyle, his first in the majors. It was that kind of day for the Mets.

Colon pitched a lot better than the struggling Masahiro Tanaka did in the Yankees 6-1 Opening Day loss to the Blue Jays. Colon won 15 games last season, Tanaka 13.

Collins wanted to reward Colon, and he didn't care what anybody thought of his decision.

"The guy who pitches Opening Day earned that start,'' Collins told The Post. "We like our pitching staff. Max Scherzer earned Opening Day for Washington, and they have a great pitching staff. But Bartolo earned the right.

"It came down to two guys, deGrom or Bartolo, and I said, 'You know what, let's go with Bart — 200 innings, 15 wins. Cripes, he deserves it.' He was the right man for the job.''

Colon is 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA over his seven Opening Day starts.

After a Daniel Murphy error put the Mets immediately in the hole in the first, Colon struck out Harper and Ryan Zimmerman. In the sixth, he got out of another jam, striking out Wilson Ramos.

"Every game is the same,'' Colon said through an interpreter. "But it was great to get off to a good start.''

In the clubhouse, three hours before the game, Colon was kidding with teammates. This was his 437th regular-season major league start. That's what he does.

Usually Colon pulls pregame pranks, like tossing little firecrackers around. After the media crowd left his locker, I asked why he didn't do anything like that before this game.

Was it because this was the season opener? No, Colon said. He got here a little late.
No big deal, it's only Opening Day.

Colon said his goal is to win and to show the young pitchers how to compete, day in and day out.

Another lesson learned.

"Bartolo is amazing,'' said catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who supplied a big RBI triple in the seventh. "He's a great teammate, keeps the clubhouse loose, but most of all he knows how to pitch, and he's a great influence for all the younger guys, including myself. He stays calm. That is so important for us to see."

And now Collins' move to start the season with Colon puts the Mets in a good spot, with deGrom facing the difficult right-hander Jordan Zimmermann on Wednesday.

Bartolo had it covered. Just as Matt Harvey promised.

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