One game, one win and one beautiful day.
The Good
Johan Santana wasn’t great, but in his first real start coming back from surgery, it was as good as anyone could ask for. Six innings, four hits and one earned run. He needed 103 pitches, 69 landing for strikes, as he walked two and struck out five. Again, not great, but I was more than happy.
David Wright’s opposite-field two-run home run in the first inning was what every Met fan wanted to see. Hopefully this sets the tone for his season.
The four-run sixth. Yeah, it was helped out by the ugly play from the Marlins, but it was still nice to see.
Fernando Nieve’s two innings to Francisco Rodriguez’s one. The bullpen shuffle was taken out of play with the run support, but Nieve turned in two nice innings and K-Rod was able to get work after a short spring and a rough patch with his brothers.
Jason Bay and Rod Barajas both had nice first games for the Mets. Gary Matthews Jr. had a decent day at the plate but looked shaky in the field.
The Bad & Ugly
The Marlins in the field. Three errors, all in one inning and two balls that fell in the outfield, the Fish were flopping around on the field. It was fun for Mets fans to watch, though.
Mike Jacobs. Four at bats, two strikeouts and two broken-bat balls that didn’t make it out of the infield. He was also replaced by Fernando Tatis for defensive purposes. And he’s the “starting” first baseman. Yikes.
Game Ball
David Wright, Johan Santana, Jason Bay and Rod Barajas get to split it four ways.
On Deck
The Mets and Marlins square off again on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m.