Final Score: Mets 8, Nationals 2—Capital Punishment

The Mets’ first game of the season against the Washington Nationals was a success, with the Mets winning by a score of 8-2. Jacob deGrom had another fine afternoon performance, limiting the deep Nationals lineup to one earned run, which came on an Anthony Rendon double, in six innings of work. A fielding error by Jay Bruce allowed the other run to cross the plate for Washington in the first.

The star of this afternoon’s game was the potent Mets offense. Up against Stephen Strasburg, one of the best pitchers in the sport, the Mets scored four runs with the help of home runs by Yoenis Cespedes and the returning Michael Conforto. The biggest offensive play of the game came the inning after Strasburg exited, in the form of a Jay Bruce grand slam against Brandon Kintzler that put the Mets up by six runs in the seventh.

The bullpen picked up right where deGrom left off, shutting down Washington to secure the 8-2 victory for the first-place Mets. Jerry Blevins and Robert Gsellman combined to strike out the side in the seventh inning and Hansel Robles did the same in the eighth. With a scoreless ninth inning by Seth Lugo, the Mets stretched their winning streak to three games. With today’s win, the Mets have a 5-1 record to start the year for the first time since 2006.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

1. MetsFan4Decades: 233
2. What’s a Seawolf?: 173
3. amazins8669: 152
4. AMetsLeadisNeverConfortoble: 145
5. MookieTheCat: 139
6. Gina: 80
7. Reflect: 74
8. NihilistDuda: 49
9. Allison McCague: 44
10. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 43