Colon pitches New York to twinbill split Big 10 head does not see Rose Bowl moving date
New York — Bartolo Colon pitched three-hit ball for seven sharp innings and the New York Mets overcame another home run by Jedd Gyorko to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 Tuesday night for a doubleheader split.
Gyorko homered in both ends and has connected seven times in nine games. His two-run shot helped St. Louis win the opener 3-2.
Colon (9-5) struck out eight and walked none. After Gyorko homered in the second and Alberto Rosario doubled in the third, Colon set down 14 of his final 15 batters.
Addison Reed worked the eighth and Jeurys Familia closed for his 36th save this year and 52nd in a row during the regular season.
Asdrubal Cabrera ended his 0-for32 rut with runners in scoring position with an RBI double and added a sacrifice fly off Jaime Garcia (7-7). Wilmer Flores doubled and singled twice, and manager Terry Collins helped, too, winning his third replay challenge of the day.
The Mets have alternated wins and losses for the last 12 games. They returned to Citi Field for the first time since the All-Star break, facing their fellow NL wild-card contenders.
A rainout Monday forced the first doubleheader between the Mets and Cardinals since 1999.
Gyorko hit his 14th homer for an early edge in the nightcap. The Cardinals lead the NL with 138 home runs, one more than last year’s total.
St. Louis has homered in 17 straight games, its best streak since a team-record string of 19 games in 2006.
Cabrera tied it with a double in the third, and the Mets took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a double by Flores, a dropped flyball by right fielder Randal Grichuk and a double-play grounder.
Juan Lagares beat out an infield hit in the fifth, with Collins winning a challenge, and that set up Cabrera’s sacrifice fly.
In the opener, Gyorko homered off Noah Syndergaard (9-5) for a 3-0 lead in the third.
Carlos Martinez (10-6) gave up a two-run homer to Rene Rivera and left after the fifth inning. Three relievers finished, with Seung Hwan Oh getting his fifth save in six chances.
26th man
The Cardinals recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala as the 26th player for the second game. He pitched a scoreless inning. The Mets brought up 27-yearold lefty Josh Smoker — he’s made 43 relief appearance for Triple-A Las Vegas, and has never been in the majors. He didn’t get into the game.
Up next
RHP Adam Wainwright (9-5, 4.09) is 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA in four July starts.
RHP Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.14) starts tonight vs. St. Louis. No one on the Cardinals’ active roster has batted against him.
Chicago — Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany does not envision the Rose Bowl abandoning its New Year’s Day spot in order to accommodate the College Football Playoff semifinals.
He said there might be “some movement from the bowls” but not by the Granddaddy of Them All.
“I realize the challenge,” Delany said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days. “There may be changes in the offing, but I wouldn’t expect those changes to impact the Rose Bowl.”
The College Football Playoff is considering moving future semifinals off New Year’s Eve after ratings for last season’s games dropped in a big way. Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock told reporters two weeks ago at the SEC Media Days that the commissioners who comprise the playoff management committee are open to adjusting future schedules .
“We have some good options,” he said, adding they are “getting close” to a resolution.
ESPN drew record ratings for the inaugural playoff following the 2014 season, starting with the Rose Bowl that kicked off around 5:30 p.m.
But the semifinal ratings fell 36 percent last season, the first of eight times during a 12-year contract with the network that places the semis on New Year’s Eve. Many people were still at work last December when the Orange Bowl between Oklahoma and Clemson started at 4:30 p.m.
“One option could be finding a different day for the semifinals when they’re not played in the Rose and Sugar Bowls, which our research so far has shown us that that’s doable,” Hancock said.
It probably didn’t help the ratings last season that neither Clemson-Oklahoma nor the Michigan State-Alabama matchup in the Cotton Bowl were close in the fourth quarter.
Plus, there was more star power the year before with a pair of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Marcus Mariota of Oregon and Jameis Winston of Florida State going at it in one semifinal and Ohio State colliding with Alabama in the other one.
This season, the semifinals are again on New Year’s Eve, but it falls on a Saturday. Next year, they will be played on New Year’s Day.
But move the Rose? Don’t count on it, and the same goes for the Sugar Bowl.
“I don’t see it happening,” Hancock said. “We’ve been studying since February the matter of whether New Year’s Eve on a weekday is the best day for the semifinals. And considering all that, I don’t see it changing the Rose Bowl.”
Separately, Delany said he doesn’t foresee the Big Ten instituting rules restricting transfer athletes who have a history of serious misconduct from joining a team or receiving athletic aid, as the SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 did.