Game 1 of 162
Mets 5 - Marlins 3 (LoanDepot Park, Miami)
Mets record: 1-0
Mets streak: Won 1
WP - Max Scherzer (1-0)
LP - Tanner Scott (0-1)
SV - David Robertson (1)
Seat on the Korner: Brandon Nimmo
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9
broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Brandon Nimmo was 1-for-3 with a single, walk, 3 RBI and one run scored. He drove in the first run of the season with a sacrifice fly in the third inning and broke a 3-3 tie in the 7th inning with a two-run double.
Need to Know
* The Mets opened the 2023 season with a 5-3 win. That shouldn't come as a surprise. They are 41-21 all-time on Opening Day and have the best Opening Day winning percentage of any team in MLB history (.661).
* Max Scherzer became the first player to pitch both for and against the Mets on Opening Day. Scherzer started for the Nationals against the Mets in 2015 and 2019.
* Scherzer started the season with five scoreless innings, relying mainly on a nasty slider. His fastball betrayed him in the 6th inning, when he allowed three extra-base hits and three runs off the fastball. Luis Arraez, who had two hits, doubled home Jacob Stallings, who had doubled. Then Garrett Cooper unloaded a two-run home run to right-center. Scherzer allowed 3 runs and four hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 6 innings.
* Scherzer has 3,199 career strikeouts, most of any active MLB pitcher. He passed teammate Justin Verlander (3,198).
* Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte each had two hits and one RBI.
* Omar Narvaez was 1-3 with a run scored in his Mets debut. His single in the 3rd inning was New York's first hit of the season.
* Verlander was placed on the IL before the game with a Teres Major strain in his shoulder. He will continue to throw and be rescanned in one week. Verlander said it is not a major injury. Tylor Megill was recalled from Syracuse and will start against the Marlins in Verlander's place Saturday.
Turning Point
After Scherzer let a 3-0 lead turn into a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Mets answered back and regained the lead for good in the top of the 7th. With one out, Eduardo Escobar singled to left against reliever Tanner Scott and Omar Narvaez walked against the left-hander. Nimmo then went down and pulled a bullet to the right-centerfield gap, scoring both runners, including Narvaez who scored from first, beating the relay throw. The Mets bullpen locked it down from there for the 5-3 win.
3 Keys
Jeff McNeil doesn't allow new rules to beat him
With two outs and two on in the top half of the 6th inning, McNeil fouled off a pitch and quickly got back in the batter's box per new Pitch Clock rules. However, Alonso slowly walked back to first base and umpire Larry Hanover called an extra strike against McNeil for Alonso's tardiness, making the count 0-2. A perplexed McNeil regrouped, fouled off another pitch, took a ball and then bounced a single up the middle to score Marte and extend the Mets lead to 3-0. The reigning NL batting champion remained composed and did not let his confusion nor anger over the extra strike affect an important at-bat.
Mets get the best of Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara
The Mets knocked Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara out of the game in the 6th inning. they scored twice in the inning and the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner departed on the wrong side of a 3-0 score. The Mets were patient against Alcantara and made him work throughout, starting in the first inning when Marte had an eight-pitch at-bat. Alcantara threw 96 pitches and walked four batters. He wasn't at his best but some of that was due to the Mets offense. They didn't knock him around but they did earn a win against the Marlins best, and the National League's best pitcher from 2022.
Mets bullpen passes first test without Edwin Diaz
The Mets received three clean innings from their bullpen, protecting a two-run lead after Scherzer left the game. Drew Smith entered in the 7th innings, allowed a leadoff double and some deep counts. But he got the job done, retiring the next three batters, with two strikeouts. Brooks Raley made his Mets debut in the 8th inning and dispatched the Marlins in order with two strikeouts, throwing nine of 12 pitches for strikes. David Robertson pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning for the save, the 158th of his career. Injured closer Edwin Diaz was impressed.
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