David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda hit home runs in the first inning as the Mets teed off, sending Bartolo Colon and New York over the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Monday night for their ninth win in 10 games.
The Mets' homer barrage came in a span of 16 pitches. The Braves have hit just five homers all season, by far the fewest in the majors for the team with the worst record in the big leagues.
A few weeks shy of his 43rd birthday, Colon (2-1) pitched eight scoreless innings. He coasted to his 220th career victory, breaking a tie with Pedro Martinez for the second-most among Dominican-born pitchers and trailing only the 243 by Hall of Famer Juan Marichal.
Colon gave up seven hits, six in the first three innings, walked none and struck out seven. He threw 99 pitches — 77 strikes — in the longest outing by a Mets starter this year. He was 4-0 against Atlanta last season.
Mike Foltynewicz (0-1) came up from Triple-A as the Braves reshuffled their roster, making seven moves. The 24-year-old right-hander had been out of the majors since potentially life-threatening blood clots were found in his right shoulder late last season.
The Mets made it a rough return. They hit three homers in the first inning for the first time since April 13, 2006, the Elias Sports Bureau said, when Carlos Beltran, Wright and Cliff Floyd did it at Washington against Livan Hernandez.
Wright connected with one out and Michael Conforto singled. Cespedes, who had a golf club stretched across his locker before the game, then launched a long drive to left-center for his eighth home run. Duda followed with a liner off the facing of the second deck in right.
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When Asdrubal Cabrera doubled later in the inning, Foltynewicz walked with his head down to back up the play.
Overall, the Mets have outscored opponents 21-3 in the first inning this season.
Cespedes has been on a recent tear with 16 RBIs in eight games. He's helped the Mets homer 34 times in their last 16 games.
Foltynewicz was pulled when Cespedes came up with two on and two outs in the fourth.
