Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Monday night was another frustrating one for the banged-up New York Mets. The offense was relatively non-existent until late, and they dropped the series opener with the Colorado Rockies 3-2 at Citi Field.

Overall, the Mets mustered just three hits against Austin Gomber, who went eight innings and allowed just the two runs on a pair of solo home runs. The right-hander came into this one with a 4.96 ERA and 1.30 WHIP on the season.

On what was another disappointing night, one of the lone bright spots for the Mets was first baseman James McCann. Yes you read that correctly, James McCann made his first career start at first base on Monday night and all things considered he certainly held his own.

As it goes in baseball, the ball will find you, and McCann was thrown right into the fire out there. He said postgame he thought getting that first one out of the way early-on definitely helped loosen him up a little bit.

With one out in the top of the second, the righty made a stellar diving stop and finished it off with the toss over to David Peterson covering to rob Josh Fuentes of a one out shift-beating single.

“I joked with some of the guys, I said I hadn’t felt these kind of jitters in a while standing out there playing defense. But yeah, it was fun for sure,” he said.

Mets manager Luis Rojas said he was impressed, and thought McCann did a good job out there at first.

Rojas mentioned that one of the main reasons for running the career catcher out there at first was to get his bat in the lineup. He said he thought McCann has looked more comfortable at the plate, and has been swinging a better bat of late.

“He’s looked more balanced, his swing has looked more through the zone,” Rojas said. “He certainly showed that again tonight.”

In his first at-bat, McCann just missed an opposite field shot as he drove one high and deep to right-center field that was ultimately reeled in just in-front of the warning-track by Charlie Blackmon to end the bottom of the first.

Later in the game he got another pitch to hit and he didn’t miss this one. After working the count to 2-2, McCann cracked a Gomber changeup to left-center field and put it just into the M&M Deck for his second home run of the season.

“There’s a few mechanical things that I’ve gotten away from, and just finding that stride and rhythm at the plate that I know I have when I’m going good, that’s really been the big thing,” McCann said on the adjustments he’s been making at the plate.

While he couldn’t come through in his final at-bat in the bottom of the ninth, striking out swinging to end the game, it was certainly a positive to finally see McCann barrel up the baseball and put the ball in the air not once but twice.

“This is a very hard game, and there’s stretches we go through where a hard game becomes even tougher. It’s just one of those things you just have to grind through, and keep pushing, and take advantage of days you can get work in the cage and get after things,” McCann said.

With the depleted Mets offense struggling so mightily, they need as many of their regulars that are still hanging around to start stepping up and contributing the way they’re expected.