New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon delivers a pitch...

New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon delivers a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of an MLB baseball game at Citi Field on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

Vince Velasquez was 4 years old when Bartolo Colon made his major-league debut — probably too young to remember the wiry 23-year-old with the nasty fastball or his precipitous rise to stardom.

Instead, Velasquez — 23, and, as he proved Saturday night, suitably nasty in his own right — met the Bartolo Colon of today: a 42-year-old wonder wearing short sleeves in the blustery cold who throws a fastball in the high 80s. And, of course, gives the Mets every chance to win.

Youth went toe-to-toe with experience Saturday night and Velasquez came out with the victory, but just barely. Ryan Howard’s fifth-inning home run was all the scoring in the most unorthodox of pitching duels as the Phillies beat the Mets, 1-0, at Citi Field for their first victory of their season.

“He had a great start after throwing a lot of pitches at the beginning,” Colon said through an interpreter. “He settled down and threw a great game.”

Yoenis Cespedes, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, was booed in the eighth after striking out swinging against David Hernandez. Lucas Duda also struck out three times as the three and four batters went a combined 1-for-8. The Mets did not reach third base. Asdrubal Cabrera, hitting second, went 2-for-4 with a double.

“It’s tough to swing the bat on cold nights and the pitcher has a distinct advantage,” manager Terry Collins said. “But they haven’t swung the bats very good yet, so we’re not making any excuses.”

Colon remains one victory behind Pedro Martinez with 218; Martinez is second on the all-time wins list for Dominican-born players.

Colon struck out three of the first five batters to face him and had six strikeouts — all looking — before Howard turned on a 1-and-1 fastball and drilled it into the leftfield stands for a home run to lead off the fifth. Colon began to labor after that, allowing a single to Cameron Rupp that was erased on a double play, and a double to Peter Bourjos before Velasquez struck out to end the threat.

The Mets got runners to second base in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings, but all were stranded. In the third, Cabrera stroked a curveball to left for a one-out double before Velasquez struck out Cespedes swinging and Duda looking.

In only his eighth major-league start, Velasquez was sharp in his 2016 debut. He struck out a career-high nine batters in six innings and gave up only three hits and three walks.

Colon, meanwhile, showed exactly why the Mets consider him so valuable. He allowed five hits and no walks with seven strikeouts in six innings.

“Everything was good,” he said. “I thank God I was ready for the opportunity today . . . The wind was going and as the wind goes, my pitches were going.”

He threw 90 pitches, 60 for strikes, and added a nifty over-the-shoulder catch on Freddy Galvis’ pop-up in the sixth.

He even almost legged out an infield single in the second.

Said Colon of the catch: “I thought I was the only one who had the opportunity to catch it, so I made the play.”

And the near-hit? “No. No,” he said with a wry smile. “I’m not that fast of a runner. My job is to do my job on the mound.”

At least in that respect, mission accomplished.

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