Colon notches complete-game win
Bartolo Colon went the distance for the Twins on Friday to earn his first win since signing with Minnesota last month. At age 44, Colon became the oldest player to record a complete-game win in the last seven seasons. The last player that threw a complete game and earned a win at an older age than Colon was Jamie Moyer, who was 47 years young when he held the Padres to two runs over nine innings for the Phillies on June 5, 2010. Colon did stake his claim as the oldest player with a complete-game win for the Twins/Senators franchise, besting Connie Marrero who was 43 at the time of his last complete-game victory for the Senators in 1954.
Including Friday’s performance, Colon has thrown a complete game for eight different major-league teams: the Indians, Expos, Angels, White Sox, Yankees, A’s, Mets, and Twins. Only two other pitchers that debuted in the modern era – that is, since 1900 – pitched a complete game for at least eight different ball clubs. Mike Morgan did so for nine different teams, and Doyle Alexander did so for eight teams.
Friday’s game marked Colon’s first win at Target Field, which is the 40th venue at which Colon has recorded a win. Only three other pitchers in the modern era have notched a win at 40 or more stadiums – Randy Johnson (43), Jamie Moyer (42), and Pedro Martinez (40). The all-time record holder is Tim Keefe, who won 342 games at 47 different stadiums from 1880 to 1893.
Have baseball, will travel
Jaime Garcia’s winning streak ended on Friday night after allowing six runs (five earned) in his debut with the Yankees against the Indians. Garcia, who earned a win in his final start for the Braves on July 21 as well as his only start for the Twins on July 28, did put his name in the record books in another way, becoming the first pitcher in major-league history to start a game for three different teams over a span of 15 days. The previous shortest span for a pitcher making a start for three different teams was 23 days, a mark set by Ed Daily in 1890 (Brooklyn Gladiators of the American Association, New York Giants, Louisville Colonels of A.A.) and tied by Ron Darling in 1991 (Mets, Expos, Athletics).