Skid's 2014 Dream Season

March 31 - GAME #1 vs Washington Nationals (0-0)

Dillon Gee gets his first opening day start against the Nationals Steven Strasburg. My favorite addition to the Mets opening day roster is OF Andrew Brown and 1B Josh Satin. I watched both play for Las Vegas last year and I did not expect them to make the roster. Unlike Travis d'Arnaud and Wilmer Flores who both played for the 51's last year and I did expect them to be on today's roster. Daniel Murphy and Chris Young are both out for this game. Murph is with his wife who gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, Noah. Chris Young is out with a right quadriceps strain. Both are expected to return to the lineup on Wed.

0-1

Andrew Brown crushed a 3 run first inning bomb off Washington's ace Strasburg. Dillon Gee threw a nice six innings with no help from the bullpen as Carlos Torres and Scott Rice delivered 8 straight balls to tie the game at 4-4. Jose Valverde struck out 3 of 4 batters and surrendered no hits or walks. Juan Lagares homered to give the Mets a 5-4 lead in the 7th. A blown save by Bobby Parnell in the ninth with two outs and two strikes let a win slip away. David Wright went 3 for 5 with a HR, Juan Lagares went 2 for 4 with a HR, a walk, and 3 runs scored. No errors on defense but a complete lack of bullpen help as several relievers gave the Nats the opportunity to break the game open late. Wright's homer in the bottom of the tenth was too little too late for the Mets.

The Mets record on opening day is now 34-19. I called in sick from work with baseball fever, I'm only 132 days from retirement. Put on my road jersey and had a couple hot dogs for an early lunch and a ballpark feel. It was a nice tribute to Ralph Kiner before the game, although I only heard half of it on the radio broadcast due to MLB.tv & Extra Innings (free preview) not starting until the top of the hour. I watched the replay after the game and it was indeed a warm tribute to a great baseball man and original Met. I will miss his stories and visits to the broadcast booth.