NEW YORK -- The New York Mets' dominance of the Philadelphia Phillies continues.
The Mets are now 13-1 against the Phillies this season following a 3-1 series-opening win at Citi Field on Monday.
It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Mets took the lead thanks to two long balls (see below). That was plenty for starter Bartolo Colon, who was outstanding.
The Mets are now 73-58 and remain in first place in the National League East -- currently six games ahead of the Nationals, pending Washington's game with St. Louis later Monday night.
The Phillies are now 52-80.
Deep thoughts: The Mets had just one hit off Phillies rookie Jerad Eickhoff through the first four innings, a Michael Conforto single. But then Conforto hit a line drive over the left-field wall with one out in the fifth, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Two batters later Colon singled, to the crowd's delight. And then the fans were even louder when Curtis Granderson came up and delivered a home run of his own, making it 3-0.
For Conforto, it was his fourth home run of the season. Granderson's total is up to 23. The Mets had only those four hits, but they were enough.
The pitching: Colon hurled eight shutout innings and allowed just four hits, all singles. He had nine strikeouts, which included striking out the side in the seventh inning, and just one walk. He's now 12-11 on the season with a 4.42 ERA.
Closer Jeurys Familia gave up back-to-back singles to open the ninth inning, and walked Ryan Howard to load the bases. But then Jeff Francoeur hit into a double play, scoring one run, and Familia struck out Andres Blanco to finish off his 36th save of the season.
What's next: The second game of this three-game series. It'll be Jonathon Niese (8-9, 3.95) on the mound for the Mets, opposed by Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.79), with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
