April has arrived and baseball season is back. Johan Santana took the mound against the Braves on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at Citi Field. Santana made his first start since 2010 and he looked like he had not missed a step. Santana went five strong innings giving up no runs, two hits, and striking out five. David Wright hit an RBI single in the sixth to drive in the Mets only run. That would be enough to beat the Braves, 1-0.
The Mets bullpen did something that they had trouble doing all of last season. The bullpen held the one run lead throwing four shutout innings. Ramon Ramirez, acquired from the Giants, threw two scoreless innings. Jon Rauch also made his Mets debut throwing a scoreless inning. New closer, Frank Francisco, threw a perfect ninth inning and the Mets started the season with an impressive victory. The Mets have won 33 of their last 43 Opening Day games after losing their first eight.
Andres Torres left the game in the seventh after trying to run down a ball in center field. Torres is headed to the disabled list with a left calf strain. The Mets have brought up Kirk Nieuwenhuis to replace him in centerfield. Terry Collins is expected to platoon Nieuwenhuis with Scott Hairston, who replaced Torres yesterday.
Citi Field finally felt like home for the first time since it has opened. The walls are now blue and it finally has more of a feel as the Mets home ballpark. The 42 thousand plus fans left the ballpark feeling good with Let's Go Mets chants breaking out along the concourses. It marked my tenth straight Opening Day and it was one of the more memorable ones as it is the Mets 50th anniversary. The Mets honored the late Gary Carter before the game and unveiled a sign on the left center field wall in honor of "The Kid." The Mets continue the series with the Braves Saturday afternoon at Citi Field as R.A. Dickey takes on Jair Jurrjens.
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