The Mets won the first game of season today, bringing their opening day winning streak up to four games (2006, 2007, 2008, and now 2009, remember 2005 when we started 0-5, not fun). The real story today was originally going to be Murphy, who still is a big story from today, but then it became the pen with their 3.1 innings of hitless work. Santana pitched well today but had a few problems. The first inning was rough with two strikeouts followed by two walks. The weather at times seemed to bother Santana (and who wouldn't it bother) as he was blowing on his hand a lot during this game). He then pitched well for the rest of the game until he ran into some issues in the sixth inning (highlight: 3rd inning, only 6 pitches). It was the right move to pull him there because Encarcion can hit Santana and can hit him well. That is where the real story came out. Green 1.1, Putz 1.0, Krod 1.0. Those where those innings, and they allowed no hits. How long has it been since we as fans of the Mets have had that much confidence in the pen? It feels great and I have no idea when I felt this last. Lets hope this is a sign.
Another sign of hope for was Murphy. He nailed that pitch out of the park on his homer and he had that RBI ground out. So he was the Mets offense today. Which leads to a continuing trend from last year which can drive a fan nuts. So many times the Mets got players on base and they left so many on. It really is unacceptable. Now I don't want to get worked up over this because there are 161 games left in the season, and I would like to be alive to see the 2010 season, but seriously, we got to hit with RISP!
Next up for the Mets is a day off followed by the Reds again.
