Just Mets

The Mets defeated the Nationals by a score of 3-1 in Washington, DC today. Here are some of my takeaways from Opening Day…

Clutch hitting.

The Mets didn’t get many hits on Opening Day, but when they did, they made them count. With two outs in the 6th, Nationals starter Max Scherzer was working on a no-hitter. Scherzer was cruising up until a walk to Curtis Granderson and an Ian Desmond error, and that’s when Lucas Duda took advantage, ripping a 1-2 pitch into right field for the Mets first hit of the 2015 season, giving them a 2-1 lead over Washington.

For obvious reasons, this was a huge hit for Duda and the Mets, as things were not looking good offensively vs. Scherzer as this game went deeper. It was in the 7th when the team got their second huge hit of the day as Travis d’Arnaud, who notably struggled in Spring Training, crushed an RBI triple off the center field fence, coming inches away from a two-run homer.

It was important for the morale of the fanbase for the Mets to get off to a quick start this season. While you’d like to see them record more than just five hits, performances like today’s will certainly do a lot for that morale.

Thank you, Ian Desmond.

While the Mets can thank themselves for the big hits they got late in this game, they should give Nats shortstop Ian Desmond a big shout out, as well. Desmond dropped an easy pop-up in the 6th that would’ve ended the inning. Instead, the Mets wound up taking the lead on Duda’s two-run single.

It was in the very next inning where Desmond initially made a nice stop at short, but followed that up with throwing the ball in the dirt, which allowed Juan Lagares to reach safely at first base. Just like in the previous inning, it was the very next hitter, this time d’Arnaud, who took advantage of the Desmond error, driving a triple off the center field fence for the Mets third run of the game.

Max Scherzer was great today, but even with an ERA of 0.00, he was tabbed with the loss. So thank you, Ian Desmond, really. We appreciate it.

Bartolo Colon made the Mets look smart.

There was a whole lotta hubbub on #MetsTwitter when the team announced that Bartolo Colon, not Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom, would be the Opening Day starter. Well, Colon proved the doubters wrong and the Mets right as he dominated today, pitching six innings while allowing three hits, a walk and striking out eight Nationals.

I didn’t know what to expect from Bartolo today, but he was great. His one blip on the radar was a solo home run to Bryce Harper, who seems to love Opening Day. Colon’s biggest moment of the day came in the 6th, when with a 2-1 lead and runners on 1st and 2nd, he struck out infamous Met-killer Wilson Ramos to end the threat and his outing.

When you get a performance like that from Colon, and now you have deGrom and Harvey going in games two and three, you’re looking pretty damn good.

Uh oh, Jenrry Mejia.

The Mets lost closer Bobby Parnell to a season-ending injury on Opening Day against the Nationals in 2014, and now there’s a feeling of déjà vu. Jenrry Mejia apparently told the team he was dealing with some elbow soreness prior to Monday’s game, and as he warmed up for the 9th inning, he ran straight towards team trainer Ray Ramirez, and Buddy Carlyle got the save in his place.

We’ll wait to see what happens with Mejia, but this could be quite the blow for this team if it winds up being something serious.

Other notes from Monday:

Curtis Granderson walked twice out of the leadoff spot and scored a run.

Travis d’Arnaud went 2-4 with an RBI triple.

Jeurys Familia lit up the radar gun and pitched a perfect 8th inning.

37-year-old Buddy Carlyle recorded his first career save in the win.

The Mets improved to 35-19 on Opening Day, the best record in MLB.