(SportsNetwork.com) - Soon-to-be 41-year-old pitcher Bartolo Colon tries to make it two good starts in a row on Friday night, when the New York Mets host the Arizona Diamondbacks to begin a three-game series at Citi Field.
Colon, who'll celebrate a birthday on Saturday, has posted a 2.93 earned run average in his four starts that resulted in Mets victories, but has seen that number swell to an unsightly 7.58 in the five decisions he's lost.
He was a 5-2 winner in his most recent outing, going eight innings and allowing just five hits in a 5-2 road defeat of the Washington Nationals on Saturday.
New York has won five straight against Arizona while getting a combined 2.05 ERA from its starting staff. The Mets swept a three-game series at Chase Field in mid-April.
Colon hasn't faced the Diamondbacks since 2006.
Arizona sends righty Chase Anderson to the mound for his third big-league start.
He's pitched 5 1/3 innings in both outings while giving up a combined six runs on nine hits and winning two decisions.
On Thursday in St. Louis, Allen Craig drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the seventh and the Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 4-2 victory.
Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Hill both drove in a run for Arizona.
Wade Miley (3-5) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on seven hits with four walks in 6 2/3 innings.
In New York, Juan Lagares' go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning helped the Mets to a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game set.
Curtis Granderson added an RBI triple in the eighth, while David Wright posted two hits and a run scored for the Mets.
Jon Niese (3-3) surrendered three runs on four hits and three walks over seven innings to notch the win. Jenrry Mejia fired a 1-2-3 ninth to record his second save of the season.
