Final score: Mariners 2, Mets 1—A soft-tossing lefty? Mets are doomed.

The Mets looked like they had Mariners lefty Marco Gonzales figured out early, as they got out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and made Gonzales work hard over the first couple of frames, but unfortunately the Mets allowed him to settle in and ultimately fell to the Mariners 2-1 in this series opener.

Max Scherzer was excellent tonight, holding the Mariners to just one run on three hits with six strikeouts through seven innings of work. The Mariners managed to tie the game in the fourth when Scherzer hit Ty France with a pitch and J.P. Crawford and Jesse Winker each singled to drive him in. Scherzer uncharacteristically hit two batters with pitches tonight—the first two times he’s done that this season—but was otherwise sharp.

Unfortunately, the Mets were unable to do any further damage against Gonzales despite an opportunity with runners on second and third with two out in the seventh. But, former Met Paul Sewald came in the game in relief of Gonzales and recorded a key strikeout of Starling Marte to kill the rally.

Drew Smith, who had yet to be scored upon this season, entered the tie game in the eighth inning and walked the first two batters he faced, putting himself in a heap of trouble with nobody out. Ty France then singled to plate the go-ahead run for the Mariners. Drew Smith bounced back and did well to limit the damage, retiring the next three batters he faced, but Sewald and Drew Steckenrider managed to make the one-run lead stand up for the Mariners, handing the Mets a loss.

Full recap to follow.