In their home opener, the Mets jumped ahead early and went on to a 5-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday at Citi Field.
The Mets are now 42-22 in home openers, including 12-5 at Citi, and they’ve won it in five of the last six seasons.
Here are the top takeaways...
-- Pete Alonso continued to be the driving force in the Mets’ offense, as he set the tone for the day with a two-run home run in the first inning, driving in Francisco Lindor, who had led off with a double to left-center.
The home run was a nice piece of two-strike hitting by Alonso, as he went down and got a low-and-away fastball from Kevin Gausman and drove it over the right field fence.
According to Inside Edge, it’s only the fourth time in Alonso’s career that he has hit a two-strike pitch out of the strike zone for a home run.
-- Alonso was also in the middle of the Mets’ three-run rally in the sixth, getting an intentional walk from rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty that was sandwiched between RBI doubles from Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo.
For the day Alonso went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. The one out he made was a 107.1 mph rocket on the ground to third. Going back to Wednesday in Miami, that was the sixth straight ball Alonso had put in play at 101 mph or harder. That streak ended in the eighth when Alonso flew out to right.
For the season, the Mets’ first baseman is hitting .292 with a .433 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage.
-- Tylor Megill delivered his second strong start of the young season, holding the Blue Jays scoreless over 5.1 innings. The right-hander allowed two hits and three walks, to go with his four strikeouts as he threw 82 pitches.
Megill seemed to be sailing along through five innings and got Bo Bichette to lead off the sixth on a soft liner to third. But when he walked Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander back-to-back, Carlos Mendoza wasted no time going to the bullpen.
When Reed Garrett finished the inning with two strikeouts, Megill’s record was complete, giving him a 0.87 ERA for his two starts as he continued his success against the Blue Jays.
In three previous career starts vs. Toronto, the right-hander was 1-0 with a 0.52 ERA, allowing one earned run in 17.1 innings, with 19 strikeouts.
-- The Mets’ bullpen continued to excel, as three relievers combined to hold the Blue Jays scoreless over 3.2 innings.
Reed Garrett, A.J. Minter and Max Kranick allowed only two baserunners between them. Minter racked up three K’s in his one inning of work.
-- Mark Vientos continued his early-season slump, going 0-for-3 as his average fell to .074 through seven games.
-- In the first race of the five-borough mascots at Citi Field, the Queens subway car not-so-shockingly pulled ahead near the finish line for the win. The Bronx giraffe led until mysteriously stumbling and falling down the stretch on the warning track.
GAME MVP: PETE ALONSO
Juan Soto was probably the odds-on favorite to get the first intentional walk of the season for the Mets, but Alonso’s hot bat has changed that equation, at least for now.
With Soto on base, Alonso was walked intentionally in the sixth inning ahead of Brandon Nimmo, a testament to his scorching start to the season. It paid off for the Mets when Nimmo promptly doubled home a run and Starling Marte delivered another with a sacrifice fly.
Highlights
Tylor Megill ...
