The season could not start better for the NY Mets Monday, as both the franchise pitcher(Johan Santana) and player(3B David Wright) had big days, helping them defeat the Florida Marlins 7-1 at Citfield. Wright homered in his first at bat with a runner on in the 1st while Santana handled one of the better lineups in the NL over 6 innings. Newcomers LF Jason Bay, C Rod Barajas and CF Gary Matthews Jr. each got 2 hits and the Mets pen, a perceived weakness, pitched 3 strong innings. Florida was sloppy in the field(3 errors on routine plays) and looked out of synch. Rookie 1B Gabe Sanchez(Error) made up for his struggles in the field 2 hits while 3B Jorge Cantu doubled off Santana for the Marlin run. The Mets ace lefty tossed 103 pitches(69 strikes) allowing 4 hits and 1 run while K-ing 5 and walking 2. Johan is now 4-1 on opening day and improves to 6-1 vs Florida.
GAME NOTES: OF Angel Pagan pinch hit, drove in a run and scored as well in the 4 run 6th…. RF Jeff Francoeur drove in two runs….2B Luis Castillo and Pagan stole bases… Fernando Nieve pitched the 7th and 8th innings, K-ing 2 while allowing two hits and throwing 35 pitches… Windy day at the ball park, every fly ball was an adventure. Outfielders really earned their money, Matthews Jr. in particular… Mets legend Darryl Strawberry threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Batting Coach Howard Johnson. The two were teammates from 1985-1990 on the powerful Mets clubs of the mid to late 80s…. INF Ruben Tejada and RHP Jenrry Mejia are the youngest players on a ML roster at 20 years old. Mejia is the youngest pitcher to break camp since Dwight Gooden in 1984( NO PRESSURE!!!) while Tejada, 16 days yonger than Mejia, is the youngest player in the field since Tim Foli in 1971.. Mets have won an incredible 32 of 41 season openers including 5 straight. They have also won 18 of 20 season openers in New York. Even more amazing when you consider the club started 0-8 in season openers.
Good sign: Marlins starter Josh Johnson was 7-1 with a 2.69 ERA in 10 career starts vs the Mets. Today, he allowed 4 runs(5 hits) over 5 plus innings. Great confidence builder for a team that could use it.
Next Game: Teams are off til Wednesday
Game # 2
7:10 pm
Marlins RH Ricky Nolasco vs Mets RH John Maine
