Mets 6, Marlins 4: The Mets Will Not Go 0-162

In his first start of the year, Jon Niese threw a very strong 7 innings. On a mere 87 pitches, Niese allowed 2 runs on 3 strikeouts and 1 walk. Things didn't look so great for Niese in the first inning, but he managed to escape what could have been a disaster.

The Mets' hitters made great contact all night, but in a change from years past, the Marlins' outfielders tracked down seemingly every line drive the Mets put into play. Despite the uncharacteristically strong defense by the Marlins, the Mets scored 3 runs through the first 9 innings as David Wright homered, Ike Davis drove in Carlos Beltran, and Josh Thole singled in Chin-lung Hu. One encouraging sign from those events: Beltran's knees looked just fine as he scored from first base.

The Mets were on track to win the game on those 3 runs as Bobby Parnell looked great in the 8th inning. Unfortunately, Francisco Rodriguez allowed the Marlins to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Frankie Four Eyes narrowly escaped from the jaws of defeat, and the game went into extras.

Luckily for the Mets, things started to break their way in the 10th. Jose Reyes led off with a single, and Angel Pagan attempted a nonsensical sacrifice bunt but wound up with a bunt single as a result. With those two on base, David Wright drilled a single up the middle to give the Mets the lead again. Two outs later, Willie Harris grounded a double right down the first base line, scoring a pair of insurance runs.

Blaine Boyer got the second save opportunity of the game for the Mets because Frankie's spot in the lineup had come up in the top of the inning, forcing him to exit the game without recording a Game Finished. Boyer made things interesting, allowing a run before a force out at second base ended the game. Terry Collins got his first win as a manager in over a decade, Boyer notched his second career save, and, most importantly, the Mets got their first win of the season.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* FishStripes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Josh Thole, +29.8% WPA; David Wright, +29.3% WPA; Ike Davis, +28.3% WPA
Big losers: Francisco Rodriguez, -29.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Josh Thole single in the ninth, +33.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Greg Dobbs single in the ninth, -43.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: 2.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: 47.2% WPA
GWRBI!: Willie Harris

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by sparbz; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.