Cowgill leads Mets to Amazin' opening day victory

METS 11, Padres 2

This is the kind of start that Mets' fans would only dream of.

After another frustrating off-season, and with a baseball team coming off of three straight seasons of pure ineptitude, the Mets came out like gangbusters in their season opener pounding the San Diego Padres, 11-2.

A day that started in the bask of glorious sunshine, and the shuttering sound of boos and groans from the crowd as each member of the 2013 Mets (with the exception of David Wright) was introduced before a fairly full Citi Field soon turned into memorable afternoon full of cheer and hope for the season ahead.

Coming into this season, it was fair to say that the Mets needed to get an indication from several players on this roster, that they are ready to become part of the future success of this ball club moving forward. While it is only one game in 162 games, this was a step in the right direction.

Ruben Tejada, John Buck, Marlon Byrd, Daniel Murphy, and the star of the afternoon, Collin Cowgill answered the opening gun like sprinters. All contributed in key spots as the Mets went 7-for-14 with runners in scoring positon, with Tejada, Byrd, Cowgill and starter Jon Niese providing 2-out RBI hits.


The Mets brought the lumber out early and often in this one, plating multiple runs in consecutive innings (the second, third and fourth) to put the contest away early. In the second, Tejada's double to left drove in Buck for the Mets first run of the season. Tejada would advance to third on the throw; then came in to score on Niese's  RBI single to make it 2-0 Mets.

Byrd joined the party in the third when his single to shallow center drove in David Wright to make it 3-1. Buck would add his first RBI as a Met on a single of his own to give the Mets a dominating 4-1 advantage.

As for Cowgill he had a huge afternoon. He doubled to center in the bottom of the fourth, and came around to score on on a David Wright ground out giving New York a 6-1 lead. Later in the game, after a walk to Lucas Duda, and singles by Buck and Tejada, Cowgill came up with the biggest hit of his career.

The virtual rookie outfielder lifted a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall for his first ever grand slam; the first grand slam by a Met on opening day since 1995.

For Cowgill, the Mets have become his first real golden opportunity to play everyday in the majors. He was forced to spend each of the last two seasons riding the pine in the major's and the buses of the minors with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A's. Since coming to the Mets, he entered a wide open competition for all three outfield spots in spring training, and edged out Jordany Valdespin for the starting job in center.

He is off to a flying start.

Niese was solid in his first opening day start, pitching six and two-thirds of four hit ball. His only mistakes coming on a homer to Yonder Alonso and a RBI-single to Carlos Quentin. Other than that, Niese was very good.

The Mets return home on Wednesday to continue this opening three-game series. Matt Harvey will get the ball for the Amazin's.