Mets: Noah Syndergaard throws six dominant innings in Opening Day debut

Opening Day went as expected for Mets’ ace Noah Syndergaard. He shut down the Braves over six innings allowing just five hits, walking none, and striking out seven.

Syndergaard’s day was unfortunately cut short after the sixth inning. A pesky blister in his middle finger forced his early exit. Manager Terry Collins said that Syndergaard only felt bothered by the blister after that sixth inning as it popped during the inning.

Collins also noted that Syndergaard will not miss his next start, now scheduled for Sunday, as his blister isn’t too big. Robert Gsellman will now get the nod to pitch on Saturday against the Marlins.

The Mets offense didn’t put up any runs early on for Syndergaard to get the win, unfortunately. They did break out the bats later on in the game though.

In the seventh inning, the Braves were a bit wild on the mound and helped the Mets out by loading the bases on a couple of occasions.

The big blow came off the bat of first baseman Lucas Duda. With the Mets already up 3-0, Duda put the game out of reach with a 3 RBI bases loaded double.

The bullpen was also spectacular for the Mets on Monday.

After Syndergaard exited the game, Hansel Robles got the Braves in order in his first appearance of the season in the seventh inning. Robles continued his solid spring, and until Jeurys Familia comes back, his role may be incredibly important to bridge the gap between starters and the backend of the bullpen.

Speaking of that temporary backend of the bullpen, Fernando Salas also made his season debut in the 8th inning. He, like Robles, also got the Braves to go down in order. The Mets staff wants Salas in that setup man role, so seeing him perform there on Opening Day was a big plus.

Next: Mets 2017 Season Preview: Playoff and World Series predictions

Robert Gsellman closed out the game. Although he gave up a couple of a hard hit balls, he was able to get out of a jam with a double play to seal the shut out win for the Mets.

The Mets have an off day on Tuesday, and will be back in action on Wednesday night for game 2 of this opening series against the Braves.