Phillies top Mets on Howard’s HR

New York — Vince Velasquez struck out a career-high nine over six innings in his Philadelphia debut, Ryan Howard homered off Bartolo Colon and the Phillies beat the New York Mets 1-0 on a chilly Saturday night for their first win this season.

Velasquez (1-0), a 23-year-old right-hander acquired in the seven-player offseason deal that sent closer Ken Giles to Houston, struggled through a 26-pitch first inning but retired Neil Walker on an inning-ending flyout with two on. New York didn't put two runners on in an inning after that.

Velasquez made seven starts and 12 relief appearances as a rookie last year. Helping the rebuilding Phillies avoid what would have been their first 0-5 start since 1934, he gave up three hits and three walks.

Hector Neris, Daniel Stumpf, David Hernandez and Jeanmar Gomez combined for hitless relief, sealing just the second win for the Phillies in their last 12 games at Citi Field. Gomez got three outs for his second career save, his first since July 2014 with Pittsburgh.

Pitching in short sleeves and without an undershirt on a 41-degree night, the 42-year-old Colon (0-1) allowed five hits in six innings, walked none and struck out seven — including six looking. His fastball reached up to 92 mph.

When Freddy Galvis bunted leading off the sixth, Colon ran off the mound — more like a laboring bear than a sprinting cat — and made an over-to-shoulder grab halfway to the dirt between first and second as his cap fell off and the crowd roared. An inning earlier, his helmet spun off as he swung and missed at a Velasquez pitch.

Howard's home run, on an 88 mph pitch, went to the opposite field and cleared the original 16-foot green wall in left.