What a day it was at Citi Field as the New York Mets returned home for the first time in 2023. They marked the occasion with a 9-3 win to reach .500 on the season.

Friday started a three-game series between the Mets and the Miami Marlins. Right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera took the mound for the visiting Marlins for his second start of the season; and it was right-handed pitcher Tylor Megill (1-0) who was given the ball for the Mets’ return to Citi Field.

The Mets struck first in the game in the third as Mark Canha walked with the bases loaded to score Francisco Lindor. Walks would become the story of the game as the Marlins gave up 12 walks to the Mets. That’s the most walks they’ve recorded in a nine-inning game since 1997. Daniel Vogelbach then hit an infield single to make it a 2-0 Mets lead.

The Mets hit three home runs in the game as Starling Marte, Lindor, and Pete Alonso all homered in the game and accounted for five of the Mets’ nine runs in the game. Walks and RBI singles accounted for the remainder.

The Marlins had one strong inning in the eighth as Garrett Cooper struck for a three-run home run to put some pressure on Mets’ pitching. But the home team closed it out in the ninth and cruised on to a 9-3 win over Miami.

Both Megill and Cabrera cruised through the first inning, each allowing a base runner, but retired the other batters they faced to get out of the inning. Brandon Nimmo stole his second base of the season in the bottom of the first to get into scoring position, but the Mets were unable to advance him further.

Megill struggled to find the strikezone a bit in the third, walking two, but he was able to get out of trouble and out of the inning to keep the game scoreless. Cabrera retired the Mets in order in the second.

Megill gave up his second hit of the day with a one out double to Luis Arraez in the top of the third inning, but he retired the next two he faced and got out of the inning to bring the Mets back to the plate. The Mets took the lead first in the bottom of the third to take a lead over the Marlins. Cabrera gave up three straight walks to Nimmo, Marte, and Lindor to immediately load the bases. After two strikeouts that followed, he gave up his fourth walk of the inning to Canha, which scored Nimmo to give the Mets a 1-0 lead over the Marlins.

The Marlins then went to their bullpen as Cabrera’s day came to an end. Huascar Brazobán came in to replace Cabrera on the mound for the Marlins. Brazobán’s first batter was Vogelbach, who kept the Mets’ momentum going. Vogelbach hit an infield RBI single that scored Marte to extend the Mets’ lead to 2-0. Eduardo Escobar continued to struggle offensively as he then grounded out to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.

Megill continued to pitch well in the fourth, retiring three of the four batters he faced. The Mets extended their lead over the Marlins in the fourth. Tomás Nido singled to open the inning, followed by a walk by Nimmo, who had reached in all three of his at-bats. Three batters later, Pete Alonso reached on an RBI single that scored Nido as the Mets extended their lead to 3-0 over the Marlins.

With two outs and in a 3-0 hole, the Marlins went back to their bullpen. They brought in Andrew Nardi to replace Brazobán on the mound for the Marlins. Nardi struck out McNeil to end the inning without allowing anymore runs. Both pitchers got through the fifth with ease. Megill gave up just his second walk of the day and retired the other two he faced. Nardi retired the Mets in order in the inning.

Megill’s solid outing continued in the top of the sixth. He retired the Marlins in order and continued to throw well. The Mets extended their lead over the Marlins even more in the sixth. With two outs, Marte crushed a home run deep over the left center field wall to extend the Mets’ lead to 4-0.

Tylor Megill’s day was done after six strong innings. Adam Ottavino came in to replace Megill on the mound for the Mets. Megill’s final line read: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.

Ottavino retired the Marlins in order in the seventh in his first inning of work. Tanner Scott came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh for the Marlins in relief of Barnes. Scott struggled as the Mets struck for two more runs. With the bases loaded, Escobar grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored McNeil to extend the Mets’ lead over the Marlins to 5-0. Tomas Nido then hit a sacrifice fly that scored Canha and gave the Mets a 6-0 advantage heading into the eighth inning.

The Mets went back to their bullpen in the eighth. They brought in Dennis Santana to replace Ottavino on the mound for the Mets. After getting two quick outs, Santana walked two and then gave up a three-run home run to the red-hot Cooper as the Marlins got on the board and made it a 6-3 game.

That home run would also drive Santana out of the game as Buck Showalter quickly went to the bullpen. He brought in Brooks Raley to replace Santana on the mound with two outs in the eighth. Raley gave up a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to start his outing, but then grounded out Avisaíl García to get the Mets out of the inning and avoid further damage. It remained a 6-3 game going into the bottom of the eighth.

Daniel Castano replaced Scott on the mound for the Marlins in the eighth. He gave up two runs as the Mets extended their lead further. Nimmo walked for the fourth time on the day to lead off the inning. It was Nimmo’s first career four-walk game, and he now leads MLB in walks. He also now ranks 18th on the Mets’ all-time list in walks with 333, tying Rusty Staub. Two batters later, Lindor homered deep to left field with a two-run home run that extended the Mets’ lead over the Marlins to 8-3. Immediately following, Alonso got in on the party and drove one deep to make it a 9-3 Mets lead heading into the top of the ninth.

Denyi Reyes replaced Raley on the mound for the Mets in the ninth to close it out for the Mets and he did just that. He gave up a leadoff single to Jean Segura, but retired the next two he faced to solidify the Mets’ 9-3 win over the Marlins in their Citi Field opener!

Megill (2-0, 1.64 ERA) was credited with the Mets’ win, Cabrera (0-1, 5.40 ERA) took the loss for the Marlins.

Player of the Game:

The MMO player of the game for Friday’s win over the Marlins is Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill. He pitched six shutout innings on Friday. He gave up just three hits, two walks, and struck out three. Megill needed 88 pitches in order to get his work for the day done, and the righty delivered arguably one of the most solid pitching performances of the year so far for the Mets.

On Deck:

The Mets and Marlins continue their series at Citi Field on Saturday at 4:10PM EST. Trevor Rogers (0-1, 6.23 ERA) takes the mound for the Marlins against Kodai Senga (1-0, 1.69 ERA). Senga will make his Citi Field debut in his second start of the year.