It was a Spring Training of sorts for the New York Mets.
At first, it was planned to have Johan Santana as their opening day starter, similar to last year when he started the season with a win over the Atlanta Braves.
However, that plan didn't work out the way the Mets would have hoped.
Instead Terry Collins went to Jonathan Niese, who went 13-9 last year with a 3.40 ERA, to kick off the Mets season against the San Diego Padres on Monday. Despite surrendering a base hit on the first pitch of the game, Niese and the Mets made sure that the base runner wouldn't score.
After a quiet bottom of the first inning, the bottom of the order got things going as Rubin Tejada and Niese would bring home the first runs of the season.
In the 3rd and 4th innings, Byrd was the word as Matt Byrd brought home a run in each inning, helping the Mets jump out to a 7-1 lead.
The game would be sealed in the 7th inning when the Mets loaded the bases. Jordany Valdespin, who showed he had power last year, grounded and reached on-base on a fielder's choice when they opted to force-out the runner going home. Then Collin Cowgill came to the plate, and with a single swing of the bat, Cowgill became the RBI leader for the Mets this season as he hit one that barely made it over the home-run line, making the score 11-2.
Scott Rice came in to finish the game for the Mets with a non-save situation, and fanned two of his three batters as the Mets defeat the San Diego Padres, 11-2.
Mets Starting Pitcher Line:
Jonathan Niese (W, 1-0): 6.2 IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, 1HR ERA: 2.70
Batter Woes: Of the nine starters, only two did not record a hit. Lucas Duda struck out once and reached base twice on walks. But Ike Davis did not reach base at all, striking out 4 out of the 5 times he was at the plate. Jay Bruce of the Cincinatti Reds had a similar fate in his game against the Los Angeles Angels with 4 K's on 5 at bats, however he did reach base on a walk.
Base-Thief: David Wright leads the majors with 2 steals after he took advantage of two curve balls early in the game, helping to propel the Mets offense.
Around The Majors: Bryce Harper is not the only player with a 2.000 slugging percentage after one game. He is joined with Justin Maxwell of the Houston Astros, who had two triples in their first game against the Texas Rangers.
Next Mets Game: Matt Harvey makes his season debut for the Mets as he goes up against Clayton Richard of the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night. First pitch is schedule at 7:10pm, with Mets Extra with Ed Coleman getting the coverage started at 6:30pm on AM1230 FOX Sports Radio.
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