LOS ANGELES — Bartolo Colon said he made a promise to his mother before she died in 2014. "The promise was that I'm going to pitch until I'm 45," the 44-year-old righthander said Monday. "I have to make that happen. Next year could be the year, but I have to make the promise come true for my mom."
In other words, Colon said, don't believe everything you read about his plans — including a report on ESPN.com last week that said he was considering retiring after Monday's start against the Dodgers.
His mother comes first.
Of course, sometimes those decisions aren't up to the player, but Colon seems to have a determined ally in Twins manager Paul Molitor, who has liked what he's seen of Colon's first two starts.
In both cases, Colon was masterful the first time through the lineup, but began giving up hard-hit balls in the fourth inning, then got battered in the fifth inning. It's amounted to eight runs in nine innings, a statistic that Molitor said appears worse than Colon has actually pitched.
"I don't even know if it came apart. These [Dodgers] are making adjustments, and they got very aggressive," Molitor said. "They elevated a couple that got out of the park," meaning back-to-back home runs by Yosmani Grandal and Joc Pederson, "He had a chance to get out of it until the two-out base hit up the middle."
No matter. Colon will get a third start on Sunday in Oakland, which makes him happy; he hasn't pitched in the dismal Coliseum since he was an extremely popular member of the A's in 2013.
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