Great Day to Be at the Ballpark for Mets Opening Day 7-1 Victory Over Marlins Monday

The New York Mets had an excellent 7-1 win over the visiting Florida Marlins at revamped Citi Field yesterday. The first thing we noticed was the increased Mets awareness, with the old Shea Stadium Home Run Apple placed out in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda entrance, Met players on banners along the stadium and in front as well as the Hall of Fame and Museum to the right-hand side in the Rotunda. I took the picture of the dog incognito and the American Flag stretched across the field just after the National Anthem. The line to enter the Hall of Fame was excruciatingly long so we opted to get something to eat. We could still smell some of the freshly painted orange and blue walls as we made our way around the stadium. From the Pepsi Porch we enjoyed an excellent sunny day, truly a great day to be at the ballpark. The training staff and Oliver Perez were serenaded with loud boos during the introductions; with Ollie earning louder boos then Marlin Hanley Ramirez. Strawberry threw out the first pitch to Howard Johnson and the season was under way. Luis Castillo walked and stole 2nd base in the bottom of the 1st inning and David Wright blasted a shot to the right field seats just under us that gave the Mets the early 2-0 lead. It was great seeing Wright hit the other way with such power. The Mets left 5 guys on base in the next 5 innings but erupted for 4 runs in the 6th. Jason Bay tripled to left, walk to Gary Matthews, Jeff Francoeur sac fly to center for RBI, Bay scored, Rod Barajas doubled to center, Angel Pagan pinch hits for Santana, singled home Barajas, Pagan stole and got to third on throwing error, Alex Cora grounded out, with RBI. I said to my Wife early on that the Marlins outfielders were playing very shallow and it hurt them in the 6th. The Mets added another run in the 7th. Johan Santana won the pitching matchup vs. John Johnson for Santana’s first win of the season. Santana gave up only1 earned run, 4 hits, with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Fernando Nieve came in and pitched the 7th and 8th innings giving up only 2 hits with 2 strikeouts. As Francisco Rodriguez was announced to pitch the 9th inning he came running in from the bullpen and the crowd went crazy. In a non-save situation Jerry Manuel didn’t want to take any chances and looked to seal the win. Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-4 at the plate with 1 stolen base and made nice plays on the field for Florida. What a day to be at Citi Field, LET’S GO METS!