WASHINGTON — After the rain stopped, the players waved, the flag unfurled and the anthem played, the New York Mets did Thursday what they so often do on Opening Day: win.
They began a new season by beating the Washington Nationals, 5-1, behind five shutout innings from impromptu game-one starter Tylor Megill and a well-rounded offensive effort that included at least one hit from eight of nine starting batters — and the ninth, James McCann, reached base twice when he was hit by pitches.
That upped the Mets’ all-time Opening Day record to 40-21. Their .656 winning percentage is the highest in major-league history.
For new Mets manager Buck Showalter, it was the 1,552nd win of his career and his first since Sept. 30, 2018, his final game with the Orioles.
The Mets received a scare when Pete Alonso was hit in the shoulder/helmet face guard by Mason Thompson’s 94.9-mph fastball in the ninth inning. Alonso’s helmet flew off as he fell to the ground. His mouth a bit bloody, he popped up quickly and started to walk toward first base until Showalter called him back. The manager held Alonso by the belt loop as he walked him back to the dugout.
Ice bag in hand, Alonso reappeared in the Mets’ dugout during the bottom of the ninth.
The Mets had to wait a bit longer than expected — first pitch was bumped back three hours to 7:05 p.m. the day before, then delayed by rain to 8:21 p.m. — but they eventually crossed off a bunch of firsts.
First hit: Starling Marte, the first batter of the game, against Patrick Corbin, singling softly to rightfield on a slider well off the plate.
First strikeout: Megill, of Cesar Hernandez, who watched a fastball for strike three.
First RBI: McCann, via a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
First run scored: Robinson Cano, on that McCann HBP.
First game for Cano after his 2021-long PED suspension: 2-for-3, two runs, walk.
First run allowed: Trevor May, on Juan Soto’s 428-foot home run in the sixth inning.
Ticketed for the Triple-A Syracuse rotation until late last week, Megill drew the Opening Day assignment because Jacob deGrom suffered a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade and Max Scherzer experienced right hamstring soreness that kept him in his previously scheduled Friday debut.
Megill proved to be a worthy fill-in, stretching the Mets season-opener starting pitchers’ streak of scoreless innings to 22 (a stretch owned mostly by deGrom). They haven’t had a starter allow a run in the first game of the year since Noah Syndergaard in 2018.
The gutsiest moment from Megill came in the third inning, when the Nationals had runners on the corners with one out and Soto, the National League MVP runner-up last year, stepping to the plate. Soto struck out when he whiffed on a 98-mph fastball over the heart of the plate. Then Nelson Cruz grounded out to second to end the inning.
That flash of velocity was perhaps the most interesting development of the night. His fastball maxed out at 99.1 mph, the hardest pitch of his career, and averaged 96.1 mph — a big jump up from his 94.6 as a rookie last year.
The Mets reached lefthander Corbin for two runs in 4 2/3 innings.
