3 Up

Flashes of Cy Porcello

Mets veteran right-hander Rick Porcello bounced back from two bad starts to begin his career in Flushing, with seven innings of one-run ball. The big key was no walks (six in first two starts) and 10 ground ball outs.

The former Cy Young winner allowed only five hits and struck out four. He also retired the last 10 batters he faced and needed only 81 pitches to get 21 outs. Porcello became the seventh active pitcher to hit the 150-win plateau.

Bullpen Comes Through

The Mets bullpen has begun the season right where they left off in 2019, and that is certainly not a good thing, but they didn’t allow a run in the two-game split with the Nationals.

Game one starter Steven Matz lasted only three innings, though the bullpen followed with five scoreless. The offense failed on multiple scoring chances despite the bullpen keeping them in the game in the 5-3 loss on Tuesday night.

Bullpen in the series: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K

Jeurys Familia, Edwin Diaz, and Dellin Betances all had scoreless outings in the first game and Seth Lugo closed out the Wednesday win with two of his own. The bullpen hasn’t allowed an earned run over their last 10 innings.

Defense, Defense, Defense

The Mets defense has been an issue for quite some time including recently in 2019 when they posted a National League worst -82 defensive runs saved. On Wednesday night, the defense played a huge role in Porcello’s strong outing and the Mets getting the 3-1 win.

Andres Gimenez and Luis Guillorme up the middle was a treat and even J.D. Davis got into the action with a few nice plays. Michael Conforto also had an outfield assist throwing out Juan Soto at third base.

3 Down

Ugly and Short for Matz

Just when it looked like Mets lefty Steven Matz had finally shown he’s going to be a consistent starter in the big leagues, he was knocked around for five runs in three innings by Washington.

Matz allowed seven hits, walked none, struck out three, and gave up two long balls. He needed a whopping 78 pitches to get only nine outs.

Mets Missing Multiple Infielders

The Mets infield depth chart was certainly an issue in the series with Robinson Cano going on the injured list on Tuesday and neither Amed Rosario or Jeff McNeil playing at all in Washington.

With the roster now down to 28 (Mets optioned Ali Sanchez to Brooklyn on Thursday), the Mets will have to hope that Rosario and McNeil are healthy enough to play on Friday when they start their series against the Marlins. Without McNeil and Rosario, the Mets would have a two-man bench.

Strikeouts Still Issue for Alonso

Pete Alonso did get one base four times in the series with two singles and two walks, but struck out four times in 10 at-bats. Alonso is hitting .180/.339/.240 with 20 strikeouts in 50 at-bats thus far.

The 2019 Home Run champ has just one home run and no other extra base hits.