NEW YORK -- One by one, the hard-throwing young starters on the Mets pitching staff got hurt. Bartolo Colon, like Ol Man River, keeps on rollin along.The 43-year-old limited the Twins to three singles in seven innings, Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera hit consecutive home runs off rookie Jose Berrios in the third, and New York beat Minnesota 3-0 Friday night in the opener of the Mets final homestand this season.If we wouldnt have had him in our rotation, Im not sure where we would be right now, Mets manager Terry Collins said.Matt Harvey hasnt pitched since early July, and Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz all have been slowed by injuries. Colon (14-7) made his team-high 30th start and lowered his ERA to 3.14.Matched against a pitcher nearly half his age, Colon also helped himself with his glove -- starting an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play in the first and covering first base on a grounder to the right side in the seventh. He also picked off a runner in winning for the fourth time in five decisions.The burly, 285-pound pitcher smiled when asked about his quick move to the third base side of the mound on Jorge Polancos comebacker, which started the double play.Thats a routine play. I always do that, Colon said through a translator.New York opened a two-game lead over St. Louis for the second NL wild card and is one game behind San Francisco.Hopefully he continues to pitch like that because were going to need him, Reyes said.Colon, whose fastball averages just over 90 mph, was a free agent when he re-signed in December. New York expected Zack Wheeler to return in midseason and for Colon to shift to the bullpen, a role he excelled in last October.We thought it was a good signing knowing that he would give us innings early, Collins said. And here he is right in the pennant stretch in late September still carrying the staff.Colon allowed soft singles in the third to Berrios and Brian Dozier, who extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a slow bouncer to third, then retired Polanco on a flyout to escape bases-loaded trouble. Polanco singled in the sixth.He doesnt miss spots, Dozier said. I was telling some of these young guys just to kind of watch him tonight.Addison Reed pitched the eighth and Jeurys Familia worked around a pair of walks to complete the three-hitter, retiring pinch-hitter Kennys Vargas on a flyout to deep left for his 49th save in 53 chances.The 22-year-old Berrios (2-7), who was 2 when Colon made his big league debut in April 1997, allowed two runs and four hits in four innings. He was impressed by Colon.To be able to paint the corners like that is awesome, Berrios said through a translator.Reyes homered over the right-field wall on a curveball and, three pitches later, Cabrera sent a fastball into the right-field second deck. Yoenis Cespedes added an RBI single in the seventh off Pat Light.After the Twins, the Mets host the Atlanta Braves and Phillies before finishing with a six-game trip to Miami and Philadelphia.All weve got to continue to do is not worry about anything else except our business of trying to win a game each and every night, Collins said.REFRESHEDNew York is 14-2 after off days. The Mets have one remaining, on Sept. 29.HAIRYMets reliever Jerry Blevins joined Cabrera and Reyes with dyed blond hair.WHOOPSCespedes tried for a nonchalant basket catch on Max Keplers soft leadoff fly to left in the fourth only to have the ball tick off the webbing of his glove for an error. Colon then picked off Kepler, originally ruled safe by first base umpire Brian Gorman but called out on video review.WHIFFSTravis dArnaud is hitting .109 (5 for 46) with runners in scoring position. ... Jay Bruce was 0 for 3 and booed. He is hitting .200 in September (8 for 40). ... Curtis Granderson was 0 for 3 and is in a 1-for-22 slide.TRAINERS ROOMMets: Cabrera left after eight innings because of a right leg cramp but expects to play Saturday. ... deGrom (right forearm soreness) is scheduled to start Sunday and will be limited to 75 pitches in his first appearance since Sept. 1. ... 1B Lucas Duda (stress fracture in lower back) is to be activated from the DL on Saturday; he last played on May 20. ... Matz (shoulder tightness) is to throw a bullpen Saturday; he has not pitched since Aug. 14. ... OF Juan Lagares (surgery to repair torn ligament in left thumb) was activated Friday. He has not played since July 28 and will be limited to a defensive-replacement role. ... INF Wilmer Flores, out since a home-plate collision Sept. 10, said he had an injection of painkiller in his right wrist Thursday and could return in a few days.UP NEXTRHP Seth Lugo (4-2) is to start for the Mets on Saturday, and RHP Ervin Santana (7-10) for the Twins. Cheap Jordan Shoes Australia . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Cheap Jordan Shoes Free Shipping . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. http://www.australiaairjordancheap.com/ . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Wholesale Jordan Shoes . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Jordan Shoes Australia . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Up close and personal: January 1992 Im seven years old, sitting with other children on an embankment above a school cricket ground. The field seems enormous, but with familiarity and a few years Ill realise its not. Ive just met my first two Test cricketers - ginger giant Gary Cosier, of whom I know nothing, and Shane Warne, a week on from an inglorious Test debut.Theyre coaching us but right now theyre also giving a demonstration, Cosier batting and Warne bowling on the centre wicket. First up, Cosier dispatches Warne further than Ive ever seen a ball hit, over the fence and past rows of houses. Its probably the single coolest thing Ive seen in my short life.Until the next ball. Ive never seen legspin up close but now I know because Warne gives this one an extra rip so that the ball spins violently and audibly past Cosiers thrusting blade. Cosier was our hero a second ago but now he looks like a chump. You should have heard the ball fizzing, said the coach standing in the umpiring position. We did, all the way from the boundary.Ball of the Century: June 1993 When youre a child there are a few authority figures you look to for certainties and reassurance in life. If youre lucky its your parents. If you were a kid like me, perhaps you also found it in cricketers and footballers.Thats what shocked me at first about Warnes Gatting ball because I was too young to appreciate its technical perfection, its ominous context and its sheer beauty.I just saw stocky Mike Gatting, greying at the temples, and so not unlike my dad or my friends dads, grasping desperately and failing; not just that but being humiliated. As Warne launched into celebration, the earths orbit was suddenly a mystery to Gatting. That unsettled me. Dont get me wrong - eventually Id realise the cricketing implications of the delivery, but if Gatting didnt know what he was doing then maybe no adult did. He crumbled, so all adults did. Sport and life suddenly felt so different.Basit for dinner: December 1995 Many have been the theses that - as well as being a peerless practitioner of his craft - Warne had an ability to mentally outmanoeuvre batsmen before they had even taken guard. Often this approach was entirely lacking in subtlety and nuance, but damn it if it wasnt fun to watch. Warnes a bit of a ham these days. We should have seen that one coming.Basit Ali stood there patiently before Warnes final ball on the third day of 1995s Sydney Test - watching, waiting as the bowler ostentatiously conferenced with Ian Healy about the exact specifications of the finale.dddddddddddd That or they talked about what was for dinner. It doesnt really matter. Basit might have used his bat, I suppose, but he also just looked powerless to prevent his demise. It was cheesy, it was predictable, but what I wouldnt give to watch it again for the first time.Warnes genius also unlocked the best in crickets vernacular. You wouldnt believe it, said Richie Benaud, hes done him between his legs.Psyched out: January 1994 Its both the physical and psychological domination. Imagine being so confident, so cocky and so good that you allowed a batsman success for tactical purposes. Warne does it here with a decoy flipper. Daryll Cullinan pulls for four. Benaud senses it. He calls it the minute Warne bowls the first one. Well… that looked to me to be the one Warne shows them. You could almost pick that from up here. Really, Richie? Really. Now theres a legbreak. Cullinan cuts it for four more. Maybe this isnt so bad after all. Hes actually looking good. Hes looking even better to Warne, though, who has him exactly where he wants him: buoyed by the confidence of minor victories, and thus more inclined to yield to his own momentum and attacking instincts.Now comes the real flipper, the one Cullinan cant even hope to read. Its impossible to imagine worse footwork - two or more decisions in a split-second, all wrong - and then his stumps rattled. Not only has Cullinan been burgled, he has helped the thief load up the getaway car.The classic: December 1996 Warnes in his 46th Test now. Time enough, perhaps, for us to have grown a little complacent about the shapes, angles, torque and trajectories he would produce from a cricket ball.Its the SCG Test, late in 1996, and he produces perhaps his sharpest-turning wicket-taker: the legbreak that screams out of the rough a couple of feet outside off stump, then veers back into Shivnarine Chanderpauls pads and onto off stump.This is why replays exist. My brother and I get home from school and go wild when we see it in the evening news promos. The VCR is put to work because we know well want to watch it over and over, which we do. Theres something a bit odd, though. Chanderpaul is Warnes 216th Test victim, but in the immediate aftermath, just seconds after his fall, Ian Chappell focuses mainly on Chanderpauls error. There it is: we just expect these things of Warne now. ' ' '