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New York Mets Recap: Bartolo Colon Tosses Gem In Opening Day Victory

By Kenneth Teape

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New York Mets Recap: Mets Pick Up Opening Day Win, Capitalizing On Nationals Mistakes

The New York Mets got their season started off the the right foot Monday evening, defeating the NL East favorite Washington Nationals on Opening Day. It was a pitcher’s duel throughout the game, as Bartolo Colon and Max Scherzer were both on top of their game.

The Mets were able to take advantage of National miscues, and was a big part of them getting the victory. The Mets were able to win the game today without plating an earned run, as Ian Desmond had a rough afternoon in the field.

Scherzer was rolling, not giving up a hit through 5 ⅔ innings. After getting the first two outs in the sixth inning, he walked Curtis Granderson. Desmond then committed his first error of the game, calling off Nationals’ second baseman Dan Uggla on a ball he had no right attempting to field, putting Granderson at third and David Wright at second. Lucas Duda came through after that with the first Mets’ hit of the afternoon, plating both Granderson and Wright for the Mets’ first two runs of the season.

Scherzer bounced back by striking out Michael Cuddyer to end the sixth inning then getting Daniel Murphy to fly out to start the seventh. Desmond then struck again, making a poor throw over to first base that got Juan Lagares on base. Again, the Mets were able to take advantage as Travis d’Arnaud launched a ball to deep left-center field for an RBI triple. That put the lead at 3-1 Mets, which they carried through the rest of the game to get the victory.

Scherzer pitched brilliantly for the Nationals in his debut, throwing 7 ⅔ innings with three unearned runs, four hits two walks and eight strikeouts. Colon matched Scherzer throughout the afternoon, giving the Mets an outstanding performance to start the season.

Colon had a rough opening inning, as the Nationals got their first two hitters on base via a Michael Taylor single then Daniel Murphy error that allowed Yunel Escobar to reach base. Colon would hunker down after that, striking out Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman before getting Wilson Ramos to ground out.

The only blemish against Colon and the Mets on the afternoon was a bomb by Harper that led off the bottom of the fourth inning that he planted in right centerfield. Other than that, Colon was stellar. He threw six innings, allowing only three hits, the one run and only one walk to go with eight strikeouts.

After Colon exited, the Mets went an unconventional way to finishing the game, but they got the job done. Carlos Torres and Jeurys Familia both tossed scoreless innings as the Mets are expecting this season. After that, things got interesting as Jenrry Mejia attempted to warm up for the save in the ninth, but experienced some elbow soreness and instead went to the bullpen.

The Mets instead went with the newly acquired Jerry Blevins to face Harper, getting him to fly out to right field. They then brought in Buddy Carlyle, who barely made the final 25-man roster to finish off the game. That is exactly what he did, forcing back-to-back groundouts from Zimmerman and Ramos to get his first career save.

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It may not have been in a way that anyone would have predicted, but the Mets were able to get a big win on Opening Day, improving their MLB best record in Opening Day games to 35-19.

This was a great way for the Mets to start the season, as they struggled mightily against the Nationals last season. They already have 25 percent of the wins they had against the Nationals from 2014 in 2015 now as well, as they won only four games all of last season against the Nationals.

The Mets and Nationals will continue their series on Wednesday night, as Jacob deGrom will take the mound for the Mets and be opposed by Jordan Zimmermann.

Next: New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals Series Preview

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