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WASHINGTON — The only blemish was easily forgivable.
The Mets’ bullpen closed out an well-pitched 5-1 victory over the Nationals on Opening Night as four relievers worked one inning apiece and set the ideal blueprint for not overtaxing the rotation, which is without Jacob deGrom.
After starter Tyler Megill threw five scoreless innings, Trevor May, Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz took the rubber in succession. The only run allowed was on Juan Soto’s bomb into the second deck in right field off May in the sixth inning.
“We’re trying to get everybody [involved],” manager Buck Showalter said. “Don’t know what the next few days are going to bring. Not over-extend, but we’ll try to get everybody off.”
In some ways, serving up a solo home run to arguably MLB’s best player when pitching with a 4-0 lead actually beats letting Soto potentially start a rally. The rally still almost happened after Josh Bell and Keibert Ruiz strung together back-to-back two-out singles, but May escaped when Lane Thomas bounced into a fielder’s choice.
Lugo walked Soto on four pitches in the eighth, which could be a preview of the strategy for the Mets over the next three games and for Nationals opponents in general over the next 161 games.
May, Lugo and Diaz all were part of a Mets’ bullpen that last season pitched to a 3.90 ERA, ninth-best in MLB. Ottavino made a pleasant debut after his career went sideways over the past two seasons. Ottavino, Lugo and Diaz held the Nationals hitless after the sixth.
“Great [job],” Megill said. “We had a big lead and they did exactly what they had to do: Go in, throw strikes and fill it up.”
Ottavino, who signed a one-year, $4 million contract in the offseason, retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the seventh. The 36-year-old right-hander pitched to a career-best 1.90 ERA with the 2019 Yankees, but lost his setup spot with a 5.89 ERA over 24 games in 2020. The Yankees maintained such little faith in Ottavino that he was traded to the rival Red Sox, where he pitched to a 4.21 ERA last season.
Diaz, who entered in a non-save situation, finished out the game to start on a high note after posting a 3.45 ERA and 32 saves last season. He retired three straight hitters after a leadoff walk.
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