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The New York Mets opened their season with a 5-1 win over the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Thursday night. Tylor Megill dominated on the mound and the offense backed him up with a strong performance of their own.

It was a collective effort at the plate, as each starter reached base at least once against Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin and the bullpen. Perhaps one of the biggest bright spots of the group was surprisingly second baseman Robinson Canó.

Canó enjoyed himself a strong spring training, hitting .360 with a pair of doubles over eight games. With Brandon Nimmo remaining out of the lineup, Canó was thrust into action for the opener and kept that positive momentum going.

In his first MLB action since September 27, 2020 after a PED suspension, Canó showed no signs of rust. The sweet-swinging lefty reached base three times in four plate appearances with a pair of singles, a walk, and two runs scored.

Canó sparked a fifth-inning rally in which the Mets scored the first two runs of the game against Corbin. On the first pitch of the inning, Canó dropped a perfect bunt down the third baseline to beat the shift and put the leadoff man on.

Postgame, Mets manager Buck Showalter called that one of the biggest parts of the game. Canó told reporters postgame that if teams are going to continue to shift him like that, he’ll take the single all year long.

“Whatever it takes. It’s not about putting up individual numbers, it’s about finding a way to win. That’s what I was thinking, get something started because we’ve got a lot of good hitters on this team and we can turn that into something,” Canó said.

The Mets certainly turned it into something, as both Mark Canha and Jeff McNeil then reached base, followed by a James McCann hit by a pitch to force in the first run of the season. Starling Marte then added another to the Mets’ tally with a fielders choice.

Canó was in the middle of things again in the top of the sixth. With Pete Alonso on first, Cano drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive. Canha and McNeil then followed that up with RBI singles each to increase the lead to 4-0.

He also led off the top of the eighth with another opposite-field single for his second hit of the night. Canó was replaced by Travis Jankowski on first, ultimately being pulled for a defensive replacement.

Following the win, Canó told reporters that it was exciting to be back out there and spend time with the guys.

“It’s always good to be in the field and be able to play the game that I love. It’s something that you can’t describe. Just to be able to be back and to play second base for Opening Day, it feels really good,” Canó said.

Who knows how much the Mets will actually get from Canó this season, but Thursday night’s performance was certainly a good start. If he’s back in there, he’ll look to carry that momentum into Friday night’s game against young right-hander Josiah Gray.