WASHINGTON (AP) — For each of the past three seasons, the New York Mets sent Jacob deGrom to the mound on opening day and watched him throw at least five scoreless innings.
This time, an injured deGrom was not available, so fill-in Tylor Megill took the ball from new Mets manager Buck Showalter and turned in a suitable impression of what the two-time Cy Young Award winner usually does in Game 1.
Megill, a 6-foot-7 right-hander only in the majors since last June, threw five shutout innings in a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals, making the Mets the first team in major league history to get scoreless outings from their starters on opening day in four consecutive seasons.
“He was awesome. He was electric,” said New York first baseman Pete Alonso, whose eventful evening included getting a bloody lip when he was hit by a pitch in the ninth and the ball ricocheted off his chin flap and into his mouth. “He had a lot of poise, a lot of moxie.”
Mark Canha and Starling Marte — two products of the Mets’ quarter-billion dollar offseason spending spree — drove in runs, as did Francisco Lindor, who hit only .230 with 63 RBIs in 2021, his first season in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
