LOS ANGELES -- Bartolo Colon's first career home run helped him win a game and earned some of his gear a spot in Cooperstown. Now, it has propelled him to a National League co-Player of the Week Award.
Colon shared NL honors with the Cubs' Ben Zobrist after going 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA from May 2-8, and, yes, homering Saturday against the Padres. It was the fifth career NL Player of the Week nod for Colon, who last won for the week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2015.

Though the homer helped, Colon put himself in contention for the award on the basis of his pitching. The right-hander's eight shutout innings May 2 against the Braves gave him his 220th career victory, passing Pedro Martinez for the second-most all time among Dominican-born pitchers. Five days later, Colon won again in San Diego on the strength of both his arm -- he fired 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball -- and his bat.
At age 42, Colon became the oldest player in Major League history to his first career home run, passing Randy Johnson, and the second-oldest Met to homer in any context. The Mets plan to donate items from that game to the Hall of Fame, though Colon is keeping both the home run ball and his bat, which he will never use again.
Overall, in his third year with the Mets, Colon is 3-1 with a 2.82 ERA, 33 strikeouts and just four walks in 38 1/3 innings.