After playing in Houston and Miami to start the season, the Mets were finally back in New York for their home opener. They were facing the Blue Jays, who were 5-2 to start the season. Tylor Megill was starting for the Mets and Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays. The Mets were hoping to secure a win in their first game back at Citi Field, and they’d have to get through Vladimir Guerrero, Bo Bichette, and Gausman to do it.
The Blue Jays led off the game against Megill with three of their best hitters, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and offseason addition Anthony Santander. And they went down in order, two consecutive groundouts and an inning ending strikeout. The Mets came up in the bottom of the first and got off to a hot start against Gausman. Lindor led off the game with a double (that was initially called an out but was overturned upon review), then Pete Alonso smacked a one-out, two-run home run to immediately put the Mets ahead by two. Nimmo walked to prolong the inning, but a line out double play from Starling Marte ended the inning before any more runs could score for the Mets.
The top of the second was a bit more difficult for Megill. After two outs to begin the inning, he gave up a triple to George Springer and walked Will Wagner to put himself in a tough spot. But Ernie Clement popped out to Alonso and ended the inning with the Blue Jays still scoreless. The bottom half of the second was much more quiet for the Mets, with the Mets being set down without any baserunners.
Other than a two-out single by Guerrero, Megill held the Blue Jays in check in the top of the third. The Mets were once again sent down in order in the bottom half of the inning. In the fourth, both teams had no baserunners of any sort, and the same was true of the fifth, with Gausman and Megill both cruising.
The sixth inning was a struggle for Megill. After getting a line out from Bo Bichette to start the inning, he gave up back to back walks of Guerrero and Santander. He was subsequently pulled from the game and replaced by Reed Garrett. Garrett then struck out the next two batters to end the inning and keep the Blue Jays scoreless. The Blue Jays had their own struggles in the bottom of the sixth. After Jose Siri flew out to start the inning, Francisco Lindor drew a walk and Gausman was pulled in favor of Mason Fluharty. Fluharty immediately gave up a double to Soto which brought LIndor in to score. Alonso was intentionally walked to get to Nimmo, who hit a double of his own to bring in Soto for the Mets fourth run. Fluharty was pulled and former Met Jacob Barnes came in. He got the second out on a sacrifice fly, bringing in Alonso to score for the Mets fifth run and third in the inning. Mark Vientos popped out to end the inning.
A.J. Minter was brought in for the top of the seventh, and after giving up a single to Springer he got three consecutive strikeouts to strand Springer at first. Barnes stayed in for the bottom of the seventh and had a clean inning with two fly outs and a strike out. In the eighth, the Mets brought in Max Kranick, and other than a one-out Guerrero single, he shut down the Blue Jays.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Yariel Rodríguez came in for the Blue Jays. He walked Lindor, who proceeded to steal second base. Juan Soto hit a comebacker to Rodríguez, which caught Lindor stranded between second and third but allowed Soto to reach first safely. Soto then stole second, as well. Rodríguez stopped the damage there, setting down Alonso and Nimmo to end the inning. Kranick stayed in for the top of the ninth, and he set down the Blue Jays in order to win the game for the Mets.
The Mets won yet another home opener, by a wide five run margin. Megill looked good, Alonso hit yet another home run, and Max Kranick, childhood Mets fan, closed out the game for the win. It’s still early, but the Mets seem to be chugging along nicely. They face the Blue Jays again the next two days, though the weather is less than ideal this weekend so plans may have to change.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
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Big Mets winner: Tylor Megill, +19.4% WPA
Big Mets loser: Starling Marte, -3.6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +34.5% WPA
Mets hitters: +15.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso’s two-run home run in the first inning, +16.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Anthony Santander’s sixth inning walk, -5.5% WPA
