NEW YORK -- Its no secret: Bartolo Colon simply sticks with his fastball. He runs it, sinks it, spots it right on the corner or just above the hands. So the Pittsburgh Pirates went into Wednesdays game well aware their mound opponent was relying on that heater some 90 per cent of the time this season. Still, they couldnt do much with it. Colon carried a three-hitter into the eighth inning, and the New York Mets got home runs from David Wright and Lucas Duda in a 5-0 victory over the sloppy Pirates. "Its impressive to watch from third base," Wright said. "You look up at the scoreboard and its high 80s, low 90s (mph) fastball. He throws a lot of them, but he just knows exactly where its going and he just dissects hitters." Pitching four days after his 41st birthday, Colon (4-5) struck out a season-high nine -- seven looking -- in his second consecutive win. Wright added an RBI single during an eventful afternoon in which he also stole a base, made two throwing errors and robbed Andrew McCutchen of extra bases with a diving play near the line. New York salvaged the final two games of a 4-5 homestand after firing batting coach Dave Hudgens and replacing him with minor league hitting co-ordinator Lamar Johnson. "I didnt expect anybody to kind of hang their heads about it," Wright said. "Hopefully, the transition to LJ is going to be a smooth one. Hes off to a good start." The Mets improved to 13-17 at Citi Field, winning the series against Pittsburgh for their first back-to-back victories at home since a three-game streak from April 23-25. They open a season-high 11-game trip Thursday night with a five-game series in Philadelphia and play 25 of their next 33 on the road until July 4. "Weve played pretty good on the road, so were looking forward to it," Duda said. Colon reached 2,000 strikeouts when he caught ex-Met Ike Davis looking in the sixth. The burly right-hander saved the souvenir, tossing the ball to injured ace Matt Harvey in the dugout. "Just amazing how he works both sides of the plate," Wright said. "You just see, he freezes hitters." Colons previous turn Friday was washed out by rain after he yielded two runs in four innings against Arizona. In his last outing that counted, he went eight innings to beat Washington 5-2 on May 17. "He threw it where he wanted and we couldnt put anything together," Pittsburgh second baseman Neil Walker said. Colon was pulled this time after 121 pitches, his most in a decade, but Jeurys Familia needed only one to get out of the eighth. He got Davis to ground into an inning-ending double play with two on, then finished the six-hitter for his second major league save and first this season. "If they would have kept me in, I would have kept throwing," Colon said through a translator. "I dont get tired. I just want to keep going." Charlie Morton (1-7) was chased in the sixth inning and Pirates pitchers walked eight batters. Pittsburgh fell to 7-16 away from home with another poor day at the plate and in the field. "The defence hasnt been good," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Weve got work to do." Duda drew a leadoff walk in the second and scored after second-string catcher Chris Stewart was unable to handle a pair of wild pitches by Morton. Pirates starter Edinson Volquez and reliever Jeanmar Gomez combined for four wild pitches with Russell Martin behind the plate in Tuesday nights 4-2 loss. "Weve got to tighten some things up and play better," Hurdle said. "They had three trips around the bases in the last two days -- it was one hit." Wright had an RBI single in the third after an embarrassing defensive sequence for the Pirates handed Daniel Murphy a Little League triple. Murphy hit a grounder to third, and Pedro Alvarez threw high to first for an error. Murphy took off for second but the ball caromed hard off the dugout fence to Walker. He threw to second in time to get Murphy, but shortstop Jordy Mercer dropped the ball for another error that let Murphy scamper to third. Pittsburgh appealed that Murphy never touched second base, but he was called safe. "Sometimes he thinks hes invisible, and you have to remind him that, you know, people can see you," Wright said, drawing laughs. Wright opened the sixth with his fourth home run. Duda added a long, two-run shot off Bryan Morris in the eighth to seal the win for Colon. "Bartolos just a different animal," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He just makes his pitch. He doesnt care how many hes thrown." NOTES: Hurdle said reliever Jason Grilli is very close to regaining the closer job. ... Gerrit Cole (4-3) pitches for the Pirates when they begin a four-game series Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. ... After the game, Mets C Juan Centeno was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to clear roster space for C Travis dArnaud (concussion), who returned from a rehab stint with Double-A Binghamton and is expected to be activated from the disabled list Thursday. ... Familia singled in the eighth for his first big league hit. He became the sixth Mets pitcher to earn a save this season. Julian Love Youth Jersey . -- The anointed starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders is strengthening his hold on the position this training camp instead of losing it. Darius Slayton Youth Jersey .com) - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were among the third-round winners Friday at the French Open. http://www.giantsrookiestore.com/Giants-Mark-Bavaro-Jersey/ . Keenum will make his first appearance in a regular-season game against the rugged defence of the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where the fans just set a Guinness record as the noisiest outdoor stadium in the world. Evan Engram Giants Jersey . Braves reliever David Carpenter was also fined for throwing at Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson in the same game, which featured several ejections, including Colorado manager Walt Weiss. Carl Banks Youth Jersey .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2.MINNEAPOLIS - Raptors forward Patrick Patterson is expected to miss at least 7-10 days to rest a ligament injury in his right elbow, the team announced ahead of its game against the Timberwolves Sunday night. It is unclear exactly when Patterson originally sustained the injury, an ulnar collateral sprain to his shooting elbow, but after aggravating it in Fridays win over Sacramento the Raptors medical and coaching staff have decided to shut him down for the time being. "Its never a good time to lose a guy like him because he has been so important to us, offensively and defensively," Dwane Casey said, just over an hour before tip-off at The Target Center. "Its a big [loss] because of how he stretches the floor and the things he brings to the table." Patterson, acquired in a trade from Sacramento on Dec. 9, leads Raptors reserves in scoring, averaging 9.7 points in 39 games with Toronto this season. Playing a minute (per game) less than he was with the Kings prior to the trade, Patterson is averaging nearly three more points, shooting 49 per cent, up from 41 in Sacramento. Hes also grabbing 5.2 rebounds per game and shooting the three-ball at a 44 per cent clip. "Its tough, the way hes been shooting the ball, the way hes been rebounding the ball," said John Salmons. "[He] gives us that dimension coming off the bench.dddddddddddd As a big, [he] kind of changes the opposing teams mindsets when he comes in because hes a different player from Amir (Johnson) and [Jonas Valanciunas]. Its definitely a tough loss for us." The fourth-year forward will be re-evaluated in about a week and the team is hopeful that hell be available to return shortly after that. In the meantime, Tyler Hansbrough figures to absorb most of the 23 minutes Patterson was playing nightly. Bruiser Chuck Hayes and sharpshooter Steve Novak will also be in the mix, depending on match ups. "Everybody stays prepared and guys have done a good job of staying prepared," Casey said, "but [the] next guy up has got to be ready to step in and take up those minutes and produce. "Patricks been a big part of that, that depth at that position," he continued. "For the second unit, the energy he brings to the table, his shooting, his defence, his rebounding, just his overall intensity it really adds a lot to that second unit, which is huge. But again, we still have some other quality guys. Tyler Hansbroughs played a lot of playoff games, Steve Novak is one of our best shooters. So we have different guys that can step in and give us something different. So now is an opportunity." ' ' '