The New York Mets (2-0) out-hit the Washington Nationals (0-2) Saturday at Nationals Park, winning the ball game 11-8 (Box Score). Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil combined to go 7-for-9 with three doubles, a triple, and four RBIs.

Offense

Stephen Strasburg‘s 2019 season did not get off to a great start, thanks to the New York Mets. Pete Alonso started things off with a one-out, opposite-field single, sandwiched between strikeouts of Brandon Nimmo and Robinson Cano.

With two balls, two strikes, and two outs, Michael Conforto slapped a base hit past the diving shortstop into left-center field. With the shift on, Alonso exhibited heads-up base running and hustled into an unoccupied third base, and an errant throw by center fielder Victor Robles allowed Conforto to take second.

Wilson Ramos then took a first-pitch fastball off the right-field fence, missing a home run by three or four feet — but he’ll take the two-RBI double. Jeff McNeil then followed that up with an RBI triple to center field, just beyond the reach of a leaping Robles, giving the Mets an early 3-0 lead. With a “Let’s Go Mets!” chant permeating the park, Amed Rosario then struck out to end the inning.

After J.D. Davis grounded out to start the second inning, Noah Syndergaard worked a walk. With the shift on, Nimmo laid down a bunt that did not fool Rendon who threw him out at first, though Syndergaard did move up to second base.

Pete Alonso then lined a 3-1 curveball over the head of Robles in center field for both his first MLB double and RBI, giving the Mets a 4-1 lead. The 79 mph curveball left the bat at 107 mph. A passed ball allowed Alonso to take third base but he would be stranded there as Cano flew out to center.

The third inning would have led to more runs if not for Brian Dozier, but more on that in a minute. After two quick outs, Jeff McNeil lined a single to center field, his second hit of the day. Amed Rosario, not to be out-done, lined a base hit of his own to right field to put runners on first and second.

J.D. Davis then swung at a first-pitch curveball and hit a stinging liner up the middle, only to be caught on a short hop by a sprawling Dozier who threw out Davis at first to end the inning, saving at least one run.

The Mets were relatively quiet for a while, putting up zeros until the 8th inning when Wilson Ramos led off with an unlikely infield single off flamethrower Trevor Rosenthal. Opting to leave him in instead of pinch-running for him, when Jeff McNeil lined a base hit to center field, Ramos stopped at second when most anyone else would have been at third base. Amed Rosario then walked, loading the bases with nobody out for J.D. Davis.

Davis’ first hit as a Met was a two-run single, giving the Mets a 6-4 lead and putting runners on first and third, still with nobody out. This knocked Rosenthal from the game, prompting the Nats to bring in Kyle Barraclough to face pinch hitter Dominic Smith (though Keon Broxton had been announced). Before throwing a pitch, Barraclough balked, scoring Rosario from third and moving Davis to second base, giving the Mets a 7-4 lead.

Smith lined out to first base before Nimmo grounded out to move Davis to third, now with two outs. Alonso then almost knocked down the right field fence with a double that left the bat at 114 mph, missing a home run by a few feet and giving the Mets an 8-4 lead.

With an 8-4 lead, Michael Conforto led off the 9th inning with his second hit of the day. Wilson Ramos walked and Jeff McNeil tallied his fourth hit of the day, this one an RBI double to give the Mets a 9-4 lead and put runners on second and third with no outs. Amed Rosario and J.D. Davis grounded out, but Dominic Smith knocked a base hit to center field to score both runners and give the Mets an 11-4 lead. Brandon Nimmo struck out to end the frame.

Pitching

Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets, and as I’m sure some of you are wondering, his first pitch of the season was 97 mph. His first opponent of the season, Adam Eaton, worked the count full only to swing and miss at a 91 mph slider for a strikeout. He struck out Trea Turner before third baseman Anthony Rendon lined a double to right field. Juan Soto then grounded a single through the hole to right field, scoring Rendon from second.

Soto stole second base but a few nifty changeups struck out Ryan Zimmerman to end the inning. Thor needed 25 pitches to get through the first.

The third inning was turbulent for Thor as Victor Robles led off with a home run before Adam Eaton was hit by a pitch. With Eaton running on the pitch, Trea Turner grounded out to shortstop, putting a runner on second with one out. After a Rendon strikeout, Juan Soto rolled an RBI single to reduce the Mets’ lead to 4-3.

The fifth inning started off with a Victor Robles base hit, but that was quickly negated as Syndergaard picked him off first base. The sixth inning saw the Nationals score a run, tying the game at four apiece, and knocking Thor from the game. His final line: 6.0 innings pitched, four earned runs on seven hits, no walks, and sevens strikeouts.

Justin Wilson threw a perfect seventh inning to preserve the tie, and earned himself the win because of the Mets’ four-spot in the top of the eighth. Jeurys Familia came in to pitch the bottom of the inning and struck out Trea Turner before allowing a base hit to Anthony Rendon. He then struck out Juan Soto and walked Ryan Zimmerman before Kurt Suzuki reached on an error by J.D. Davis to load the bases.

Mickey Callaway lifted Familia in lieu of Seth Lugo, and the Nationals countered by pinch-hitting for Brian Dozier with Matt Adams. Lugo hung a curveball on the first pitch and Adams hit a long fly ball to right field, and while I held my breath, Conforto made the catch a split second before bumping into the wall, ending the inning.

Now with an 11-4 lead, Lugo stayed in to finish out the game. He walked pinch hitter Andrew Stevenson before Robles hit a ground ball up the middle. Rosario fielded it and flipped it to Cano who bobbled it and everyone was safe on what should have been an easy double play. Lugo struck out Adam Eaton looking before walking Trea Turner to load the bases with one out. He then hit Anthony Rendon with a pitch on a 2-2 count to force in a run, making it 11-5.

Facing Juan Soto, Lugo worked the count full before striking him out swinging at what would have been ball four, a fastball up out of the zone. Down to their final out, the Nationals sent Ryan Zimmerman to the dish who worked the count to 2-2 before clearing the bases with a double on Lugo’s 40th pitch of the inning.

With an 11-8 score and a runner on second base, Edwin Diaz was brought in for the save opportunity. He got Kurt Suzuki to fly out on one pitch to end the ballgame.

On Deck

The Mets send Zack Wheeler to the hill Sunday afternoon to face off against newly minted Nationals starter Patrick Corbin at 1:35 PM ET in Washington. The game can be seen on SNY.