Colon comes up aces in Pawtucket opener
PAWTUCKET, R.I. - Bartolo Colon made it clear he doesn't want to stay in Pawtucket long. And if he continues to pitch the way he did last night, he won't have to.
Colon pitched five scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing one hit and one walk, as the Red Sox beat the Indianapolis Indians, 3-0, in their season opener before 10,681 at McCoy Stadium.
Colon faced one batter over the minimum (16) and would have had a spotless outing if not for Indians first baseman Adam Boeve - he had a line single (Indianapolis's only hit of the game) to right in the second and walked in the fifth. Boeve then stole second and reached third on a throwing error by catcher George Kottaras. Nobody else got a whiff of first base against Colon.
"I felt very good," Colon said through interpreter Cookie Rojas, Pawtucket's general sales manager. "I felt like I had control of the ball. I pitched very well today."
Colon's control and arm strength were terrific. He threw 74 pitches (45 for strikes), and his fastball topped out at 96 miles per hour. He threw 17 pitches in the first inning, 12 in the second, 11 in the third, 12 in the fourth, and 22 in his final inning. His final pitch was a 95-m.p.h. fastball to strike out Kevin Thompson.
"He looked like a very experienced, veteran pitcher out there just getting his work in," PawSox manager Ron Johnson said. "His fastball, slider, change, he was in the zone with everything."
The PawSox planned to lift Colon after five innings or 75 pitches. He continues to have a limited workload because he has been plagued by injuries the last two seasons. Colon, who won the American League Cy Young Award with the Angels in 2005 (21-8, 3.48 ERA in 33 games), has appeared in just 29 major league games the last two years after rotator cuff surgery and persistent elbow problems.
Colon, however, said his shoulder and elbow are healthy.
"The arm feels good," said Colon, who allowed only three balls to reach the outfield. "I didn't have to rear back any harder. I was consistent all game. The real big thing for me was making sure I had control of my pitches tonight."
In three spring training starts for the Red Sox, Colon went 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA. He was with the Sox Tuesday in Oakland, Calif., where he threw a side session. He said he started training later than he would have liked and needs more conditioning to be most effective.
"I want to pitch [for Boston] but I want to make sure I'm ready to perform," Colon said. "I don't want to come back down and pitch here again if I don't have to. I have to pitch more innings, then I'll be more effective."
Johnson said he doesn't know what the next step will be for Colon.
"I'd like to say I'm involved in those decisions, but there are guys named [Terry] Francona and [Theo] Epstein who handle that," Johnson said.
Colon isn't the only former Cy Young winner to start on Opening Day for the PawSox. Curt Schilling did so three years ago. While Colon wants to join Schilling and the rest of the defending World Series champs, the 34-year-old righthander knows that's not his decision.
"Whatever management wants me to do, I'll be more than happy to accommodate," he said. "All I know is I'll be pitching in the next five days."
He just doesn't know where.
