After losing 3-1 on Opening Day, the Mets decided to flip the script, quite literally, and took the second game of the season 3-1.

Hunter Brown started for Houston tonight, and the right-hander came out throwing fire. After striking out both Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto to start the game, Pete Alonso hit a long fly ball that was caught by Jake Meyers as he crashed into the center field wall.

Tylor Megill started for the Mets and looked strong from the start, mostly limiting his pitch selection to just three: sinker, four-seamer, and slider. And that mix was working for him early, striking out Jose Altuve to start the game, and not allowing a hit until the fourth.

After that first inning, it appeared that it was going to be a long night for Mets batters. However, in the second Brandon Nimmo slashed a ball to the opposite side to give the Mets their first base runner. When Brown was holding the ball while facing Mark Vientos, Nimmo took off for second. Brown spun and tossed it to Brendan Rogers, but Rogers couldn’t hold onto the ball, and Nimmo reached second.

Vientos then turned on an inside pitch and sent it out to Altuve in left, scoring Nimmo. Vientos would score one batter later when Jesse Winker singled up the middle, putting the Mets up 2-0.

One inning later, Juan Soto recorded his first signature moment as a Met, absolutely demolishing a ball that bounced off the right field facade, putting the Mets up 3-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Astros’ bats woke up. Altuve singled to start the frame, and got moved over to third base when Isaac Paredes singled. Yordan Alvarez hit a long sacrifice fly to bring in Altuve with the first Houston run.

Megill was effective all night, only allowing two hits in his first five innings of work. In the sixth, Megill struck out Meyers, but the ball couldn’t be handled by Luis Torrens, and so Meyers reached first. After a single by Altuve, Megill’s evening was over. With six strikeouts, one walk, and three hits, Megill did his job in keeping the Mets in the ballgame.

Reed Garrett was the first out of the bullpen for the Mets, and absolutely froze Paredes with a slider for the first out. Garrett pitched very carefull to Alvarez, but couldn’t get him to chase, and so walked him to load the bases. Christian Walker was next up, and Garrett got him swinging at a nasty sweeper for the second out. Garrett got Yainer Diaz to fly out to right-center field to end the inning and the threat.

Steven Okert was the first reliever out of the ‘pen for the Astros, and he retired the Mets in order, including Luisangel Acuña, who pinch hit for Baty in the top of the seventh, and would stay in for defense for the duration of the game.

The Mets debuted their new lefty, A.J. Minter, in the top of the seventh inning. Minter, who is still working his way back from hip surgery last year, didn’t have great control, walking rookie Cam Smith, but he was able to strike out Meyers to end the frame without a running coming in.

Luis Torrens led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off the top of the wall off of Taylor Scott. Two pitches later, Lindor got hit in the leg to put two on with no outs. After a Soto fly out, Alonso pounded a ball into the ground down to third, and the Astros could only get one out. Nimmo would come to the plate facing Astros’ lefty Bryan King. He lined out to center to end the threat.

The Mets turned to Ryne Stanek in the eighth to face the top of the order. Altuve walked to start the inning. Stanek gave Mets fans a scare when Parades hit a long fly ball that drifted slightly to the right of the Crawford Boxes for a long first out. Alvarez hit a ball towards the hole between first and second but Acuña ranged to his left to make the play and throw out Alvarez at first. A Walker liner to Soto ended the frame and sent the game into the ninth inning.

After going down in order in the top of the ninth, the Mets sent Edwin Díaz to the mount for his first save chance of the season. Díaz made short work of the bottom of the Astros lineup, putting the first Mets’ dub in the books.

While I think I speak for most when I say that the national broadcast gimmicks don’t really do it for the hardcore fans, while mic’d up, Lindor made a hell of a play and displayed the charisma and joy that makes Mets fans love the dude. Plus, it was nice to hear old friend Wayne Randazzo on the call for Apple TV+.

The Mets round out the first series of the year tomorrow evening in Houston. Griffin Canning makes his Mets debut against Spencer Arrighetti. The game will be broadcast [shudders] on Fox.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue

Crawfish Boxes

Box scores

MLB.com

ESPN

Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Reed Garrett, +22.4% WPA

Big Mets loser: None!

Mets pitchers: +49.4% WPA

Mets hitters: +.06% WPA

Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Vientos’s RBI-double in the second inning, +10.1% WPA

Teh sux0rest play: Isaac Paredes’s single in the bottom of the fourth, -10.1% WPA