It’s a rainy Thursday in late March, but it’s Mets opening day, so I’m psyched. I’m a writer, and I mostly make my own schedule, so I have the luxury of watching a Mets game that starts at 1pm on a Thursday. I’m excited for this season.
Last year was a disaster, but now they’ve got a good mix of veterans and a couple of young players coming up from the minors. We need a huge year out of Yoenis Cespedes, I repeat a huge year. Last year he only played 81 games due to injury.
Jay Bruce is back with the Mets after being traded to the Indians during the middle of last season. I like Jay Bruce, he’s a solid, sturdy, salt-of-the-earth guy, if you know what I mean. Plays the game the right way and all that. There’s nothing like a little coded racial language to start out the baseball season, amiright?
Noah Syndergaard is pitching for the Mets. He was injured most of last year with a torn lat. We need him to have a dominant, huge year. Jacob DeGrom will be good too, he was good last year. Matt Harvey is a bit of a question mark, but I’m pulling for him. Mets fans fell in love with Matt Harvey in 2013, but since he suffered the elbow injury and had Tommy John surgery, he’s never been quite the same. But we all remember how dominant he was, even more dominant and flashy than Syndergaard, so I’m pulling for him, and I think most Mets fans are too.
An interesting fact is that the Mets are actually 36-12 on opening day since 1970. They were founded as a team in 1962, and they lost their first eight opening days. But since then they’ve been dominant in their openers. They pretty much always win on opening day. Let’s hope that tradition continues today.
Makiah Brown of the NYPD gives the fans a sterling rendition of the national anthem to fire the crowd up, and we’re ready to go. Let’s play baseball!
Syndergaard has a very easy top of the first inning, two groundouts and a strikeout. In the bottom of the first the Mets score a run on a fielding error by the Cardinals. 1-0 Mets. So far so good.
The cliche is that Syndergaard is a Viking God, and he is partly of Norwegian descent. But he really is a god, I think, with his 6’6” height and his flowing golden locks. I picture him at home in his nice apartment or house, with a harem of women there to serve him, maybe ten at least. They feed him grapes and cheese and service his every need.
In the top of the second,Yadier Molina pulls a Noah Syndergaard fastball down the left-field line that bangs off the freaking foul pole. 2-1 Cardinals.
Yadier Molina is an absolute Met killer. In 2006 he killed us in Game 7 at Shea Stadium when he hit a homerun in the top of the ninth, which ultimately beat the Mets. Now he does it again on the opening day. We hate Yadier, we hate Yadier.
The crazy thing is, the last time Syndergaard gave up a homerun was September 9th, 2016. He missed most of last year, but still, that’s crazy. The guy hasn’t given up a homerun in almost in a year and a half, and he gives up a home run to Yadier, the Met killer, on opening day. Boo.
Things pick up in the bottom of the second. Yoenis Cespedes comes to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, and lifts a looping liner over the shortstop’s head. Two runs score. Yoenis! Yes! Let’s go Mets! It’s now 3-2 Mets, and things are starting to look up.
In the top of the fourth, the Cardinals’ Jose Martinez drives in Matt Carpenter from second base with a base hit. Now it’s three 3 all, even up. This is going to be a battle, and we’re only in the fourth inning. Let’s go Mets.
Syndergaard seems vulnerable today, as does the Cardinals pitcher, Carlos Martinez. I’m feeling a little stressed, because I really want the Mets to win this opening game and set the tone for the season. So I decide to pour myself a whiskey and Coke zero. I mean why not. I’m working, but it’s also opening day, let’s live a little.
The game is tinged with a bit of sadness, I should add, because Rusty Staub, a Met icon, died this morning at age 73. Staub played for five teams during his MLB career, and he was lovingly given the nickname Le Grand Orange by Montreal Expos fans when he played for their team because of his red hair. His English nickname, Rusty, also originates with the hair.
There was a moment of silence for Rusty before the game, which was nice. I remember him as a great, hulking pinch-hitter in the on the mid-80s Mets, when he was at the tail end of his career. But in his prime he was supposedly a great player. RIP Rusty Staub.
Back to the game now. Syndergaard has given up three runs today, but he also has 10 strikeouts over five innings, which is pretty damn spectacular. The question is, will they keep him in for another round through the batting order, or will they go to a relief pitcher? He’s only thrown 75 or so pitches, so I’d keep him in.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Mets’ Adrian Gonzalez hits a double to the right-field corner and Todd Frazier scores from first base. Gonzalez is pushing 36, and everyone wants to see whether he has anything left. So far so good. 4-3 Mets. Let’s go.
With men on second and third in the same bottom of the fifth, the Mets young prospect, Amed Rosario, drills a liner in the gap to left center. Both Runners score. 6-3 Mets. This could be a great opening day.
In the midst of all this action, I noticed that Marcell Ozuna, the left fielder for the Cardinals, is wearing a full-on wool scarf hood over his face. It’s freaking 52 degrees, Marcel. I don’t know though, a lot of these Latin American players, the temperature gets below 60 and they wear a winter coat out there. It’s hilarious but it’s great.
The fifth inning keeps on rolling. With men on first and second, Cespedes drills another liner into into left field, and another run scores. It’s now 7-3 Mets. Let’s keep this train rolling.
Jay Bruce is up next, and he lines a base hit through the right side of the infield. Another runner scores. 8-3 Mets. At this point, this has become a can’t’ lose game. As in, you can’t lose when you’re up at 8-3. So let’s take this game fellas, let’s do it.
Jay Bruce steals second, and the Mets are rolling. He had one stolen base all of last year. This is becoming laughable, a blowout. Cespedes pops up to end the inning, but the Mets knock five runs in. And the train keeps rollin.
In the top of the sixth, Syndergaard is cruising along, with two outs, when Jose Martinez takes him deep over the left-center wall. 8-4 Mets. We’re still looking great, but it’s just a little tighter.
After six Innings the Mets pull Syndergaard. It’s 8-4 Mets, and they’re bringing in Robert Gsellman to relieve. He’s a guy who needs one more vowel is last name, IMHO. Syndergaard threw only 85 pitches, but these days pitchers don’t stay in nearly as long as they used to, so I guess it’s an okay move. We’ll see though.
So far so good. Gsellman strikes out the side in the top of the seventh. He couldn’t have done his job any better. The train rolls along.
Anthony Swarzak comes on in relief for Gsellman in the top of the eighth. He sets down the Cardinals one two three. Social does his job too, and does it well. One inning to go. The train just keeps on rolling.
In the bottom of the eighth inning Kevin Plawecki singles to left and Asdrubal Cabrera scores. 9-4 Mets. Looks like this one is almost in the books. I don’t want to speak too soon, though, because I’ve done that too many times with this team.
Jeurys Familia comes on in the top of the ninth to close out the game with a 9-4 Mets lead. This is a little unusual. Closers don’t usually come in the game with greater than a 3-run lead, because it doesn’t qualify as a save at that point. But obviously the Mets want him to get some work in on opening day, get their closing rolling too. So let’s see what he’s got.
Familia had a great 2016 season in which he led the National League with 51 saves.. Last year was a lost year though. He was suspended for 15 games for domestic violence, and then he had a blood clot and missed a lot of the year. So this is a new start for Familia, a chance to reestablish himself as a dominant closer for the Mets.
Familia strikes out Marcell Ozuna, once again wearing that knit wool hood over his face, for the for first out, on a 97 mph heater. Jose Martinez pops up weakly to shallow center for the second out. We’re down to the final out, as Familia digs in on the mound.
Familia gets the count to 1-2 on Yadier Molina. The crowd is roaring. There’s a wave of cheers cascading through Citi Field. Familia just misses outside, 2-2 count. Now he misses further away, and it’s 3-2. The crowd groans. With a full count, he throws a pitch in the dirt that Plawecki can’t corral and it goes all the way to the back stop.
So he walks Yadier Molina, the Met killer. Normally that’s the last thing you want to do in this situation with a 5-run lead. Just throw it down the middle hard, Jeurys, just throw it down the middle hard. Then again, Molina really is a destroyer of Mets planets, so maybe it’s not such a bad outcome.
Next up is Paul DeJong, who promptly hits a soft liner to Cabrera for the third out. Mets win! Mets win! Mets win! The crowd roars. Opening day is in the books, and the Mets have won their first game. Next stop, 162 wins and 0 losses. Mark it down. What a day, what a game. It’s going to be a great year.
The Mets lineup in the middle of the infield for congratulatory handshakes. The Mets young rookie manager, 42-year old Mickey Callaway, shakes his coaches hands. One game in the books, and Calloway is 1-0. It’s a great start to his coaching career. He must be both relieved and happy.
So to recap. Cespedes drove in three runs, Jay Bruce drove in a run, and Syndergaard pitched well enough for the win. So the team’s big guns delivered.
All in all, it was a great day to be a Met fan. This season is going to be fun.
Let’s go Mets.
