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NEW YORK -- Someday, maybe when he turns 50 or 60 or even 70, Bartolo Colon might get knocked off the mound.In the meantime, hes in total control.Colon pitched three-hit ball for seven sharp innings and the New York Mets overcame another home run by Jedd Gyorko to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 Tuesday night for a doubleheader split.Just throwing it straight. It was going where I wanted it, the 43-year-old Colon said through a translator.Gyorko homered in both ends and has connected seven times in nine games. His two-run shot helped St. Louis win the opener 3-2.Anytime you can win the first one, you hope to win the second one, Gyorko said. I think the way we pitched today, we probably shouldve won two. But obviously any day that you win a game, its a good day.Behind Colon, the Mets threw the ball well, too.Colon (9-5) struck out eight and walked none, throwing 65 of his 87 pitches for strikes. After Gyorko homered in the second and Alberto Rosario doubled in the third, Colon set down 14 of his final 15 batters.On a staff full of young talent, Colon is doing so well that the Mets plan to bring him back on three days rest to start Saturday night against Colorado.Hes pitching as good, if not better, than anybody, manager Terry Collins said.Addison Reed worked the eighth and Jeurys Familia closed for his 36th save this year and 52nd in a row during the regular season.Asdrubal Cabrera ended his 0-for-32 rut with runners in scoring position with an RBI double and added a sacrifice fly off Jaime Garcia (7-7). Wilmer Flores doubled and singled twice, and Collins helped by winning his third replay challenge of the day.The Mets have alternated wins and losses for the last 12 games. They returned to Citi Field for the first time since the All-Star break, facing their fellow NL wild-card contenders.A rainout Monday forced the first doubleheader between the Mets and Cardinals since 1999.Gyorko hit his 14th homer for an early edge in the nightcap. The Cardinals lead the NL with 138 home runs, one more than last years total.St. Louis has homered in 17 straight games, its best streak since a team-record string of 19 games in 2006.Cabrera tied it with a double in the third. He smiled as he pulled into second base after breaking his long drought.He took a lot of ribbing when he got back into the dugout, Collins said. You cant help but think about it because its brought to your attention a lot.The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a double by Flores, a dropped flyball by right fielder Randal Grichuk and a double-play grounder.Juan Lagares beat out an infield hit in the fifth, with Collins winning a challenge, and that set up Cabreras sacrifice fly.In the opener, Gyorko homered off Noah Syndergaard (9-5) for a 3-0 lead in the third.Carlos Martinez (10-6) gave up a two-run homer to Rene Rivera and left after the fifth inning. Three relievers finished, with Seung Hwan Oh getting his fifth save in six chances.TRAINERS ROOMMets 3B Jose Reyes went to the hospital with a strain in his side after getting hurt on a swing in his last at-bat of the opener. Collins said Reyes will be out a couple of days.26TH MANThe Cardinals recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala as the 26th player for the second game. He pitched a scoreless inning.The Mets brought up 27-year-old lefty Josh Smoker -- hes made 43 relief appearances for Triple-A Las Vegas, and had never been in the majors. He didnt get into the game, but said the all-day trip from Fresno, California, to Phoenix to New York was worth it.Smoker got his first look at Citi Field, arriving around the sixth inning of the second game and hurrying to get ready. I was dressing as I was going to the bullpen. I didnt want to miss a minute. Got to shake hands at the end of the game. Honestly, it hasnt sunk in yet, he said.Smoker said he hadnt heard what the Mets planned for him in the next day or so.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (9-5, 4.09) is 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA in four July starts.Mets: RHP Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.14) starts Wednesday night vs. St. Louis. No one on the Cardinals active roster has batted against him.Ozzie Smith Jersey Large . 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Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- In his first public comments since a domestic violence complaint was filed against New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia, general manager Sandy Alderson said the team already was likely to seek bullpen help before the legal problem surfaced last week.A complaint in municipal court in Fort Lee, New Jersey, dated Oct. 31 alleged the All-Star pitcher caused bodily injury to another. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.Obviously, we were extremely disappointed and frankly shocked at the allegations, Alderson said Monday at the major league general managers meeting. Of course, he hasnt had a hearing yet and so the facts are to be determined.Alderson termed it not just an unfortunate situation, but a sad one for him and his family.The 27-year-old Familia led the majors with a franchise-record 51 saves this year and has 94 over the past two seasons for the Mets.I dont think that its fully sunk in yet as to what impact it will have simply because its not clear what exactly happened and how that will impact his availability, Alderson said. I think we were inclined to look at some additional late-inning help before this incident occurred.Under baseballs new domestic violence policy, Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was suspended for the first 29 games of the 2016 season and Colorado shortstop Jose Reyes for 59 days. Reyes was released by the Rockies and signed with the Mets, his original big league team.As the meeting began, the Mets made $17.2 million qualifying offers to a pair of free agents, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and second baseman Neil Walker. They have until next Monday to accept.Acquired from Detroit at the July 31 trade deadline in 2015, Cespedes had 17 home runs and 44 RBI in 57 games with the Mets down the stretch that year, helping them reach the World Series for the first time since 2000.After finding a slow market for his services in a free-agent class that also included outfielders Jason Heyward, Alex Gordon and Justin Upton, Cespedes made a surprise return to the Mets when New York agreed in January to a $75 million, three-year contract that allowed him to opt out after one season and $27.5 million.Cespedes had 31 homers and 86 RBI in 132 games this year, slowed after injuring his right quadriceps on July 8. He terminated the deal Saturday.We expected him to opt out. We did have one meeting with his agent, about a week, 10 days ago, Alderson said, adding he will meet with the agent again this week. I would say there was some interest on their part in perhaps doing something sooner rather than later. But I think this particular situation is going to have to work itself out.dddddddddddd That doesnt mean that were looking for the same sort of late offseason resolution that we had last year.Walker, who had season-ending back surgery on Sept. 8, wants to remain with the Mets, and New York would like to keep him. While Alderson said a long-term contract is possible, he also said Walker might accept the qualifying offer.In a 30-minute assessment of his teams status, Alderson said he expects a return to health for the Mets starting rotation.Matt Harvey had surgery July 18 for thoracic outlet syndrome, Jacob deGrom had a September operation on the ulnar nerve in his right elbow and left-hander Steven Matz had bone spurs removed from his left elbow and a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left shoulder.Right-hander Noah Syndergaard also was slowed by bone spurs but did not have surgery, and right-hander Zack Wheeler hasnt returned to the major leagues from Tommy John surgery in March 2015.In spite of the bumps and bruises and things, people have expressed interest, Alderson said. Because of all these little -- these nicks and other things, I think its unlikely wed trade any of that pitching, in part because it is our strength and in part because right now it might be discounted a little bit in value.With the emergence of Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman, Alderson said the Mets could employ a six-man rotation at times or skip starts to keep guys fresh. He hopes to re-sign Bartolo Colon, who turns 44 in May.Were eight or nine deep, depending, the GM said. Am I confident theyre all going to be 100 percent? Well that would be probably unrealistic to believe, but I do think were going to be in a much better position with our starting pitching coming out of spring training next year than we have been.Alderson said the Mets will offer a 2017 contract to first baseman Lucas Duda, limited to 47 games because of a stress fracture in his lower back. He expects improved offense at catcher; starter Travis dArnaud had 15 RBI in 75 games, limited by a strained rotator cuff.You cant go into National League season with your eight hitter hitting essentially what your nine hitter is hitting, Alderson said. But we think we have the potential for improvement there.Captain David Wright, who lost weight after surgery June 16 to repair a herniated disk in his neck, is back to 215-218 pounds, according to Alderson. The GM also said he hopes to finalize the coaching staff in the next week but wouldnt say whether there would be changes. ' ' '