No reason to panic, but a win would help

MIAMI

Well, um, I suppose Opening Night could've gone worse for the Mets.

At least they got to enjoy Clarence Clemons' rousing saxophone rendition of the national anthem.

They might have been better off departing Sun Life Stadium after that, however.

Desperately in need of a fresh start for their emotionally raw fan base, looking to kick off the Sandy Alderson-Terry Collins reign positively, the Mets fell short against the Marlins and ace Josh Johnson, 6-2, on Friday night, their first season-opening loss since 2005.

"The guys were ready to go," Collins said, which was a fair assessment. "We just ran into a really good pitcher."

You'd be an absolute fool to take the first of 162 games and try to extrapolate any serious conclusions from it. The Mets won't be the last team to get shut down by Johnson, and once they broke up his no-hitter with Willie Harris' seventh-inning double, they put a slight scare into the home team, bringing the tying run to the plate and prompting Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez to go to his bullpen.

Yet the reality is that, even with the more patient and intelligent Alderson at the helm, the Mets' 2011 campaign trudges forward carrying an unwanted gravity.

A large segment of fans is thoroughly fed up with the current ownership. The current ownership desperately needs an infusion of revenue to boost its chance of retaining the club, and a fast start presents the best road to such an infusion.

Throw in the wired Collins -- now on the clock for his first major-league games since 1999 -- in the manager's office, and it doesn't get you a recipe for calm or perspective.

"It's just one game. It's the first game," David Wright said. "There's 161 left for the regular season. It is what it is. It's a loss, and let's move on."

If only everyone up and down the organization could carry that perspective.

The Mets certainly didn't fall on their faces or embarrass themselves with the sort of fundamental mistakes that made fans question their commitment these last few years. They just couldn't get anything -- really, anything -- going against Johnson, whereas Mike Pelfrey's first season-opening start turned out to be a dud.

No, Pelfrey won't always be going against the other team's ace. He'll get more run support from the Mets' offense. On the flip side, however, a good team has someone it wants to take on the other team's best. Can Pelfrey really be that pitcher?

"It's not the way you want to start the year," Pelfrey said.

That he struggled to put away the Marlins' hitters -- two strikeouts, four walks and 97 pitches thrown to get 13 outs -- crystallized with the game's key at-bat. With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Pelfrey got ahead of John Buck 0-and-2, threw two straight balls and then saw Buck foul off three pitches. Offering number eight, a sinker up, went over the fence in right-centerfield for a grand slam, breaking the scoreless tie in punishing fashion.

From there, the Mets' only task was to prevent the no-hitter, and on Saturday night, a blue-and-orange community turns its eyes to Jon Niese. Can he control the Marlins' lineup and give his teammates a chance to get something going against Florida starter Ricky Nolasco?

The late George Steinbrenner sounded the alarms on the 1985 Yankees when they started out 0-2. Mets ownership won't do anything like that -- not publicly, at least.

But given all the turmoil surrounding this franchise, that first victory of the season is going to feel especially soothing and sweet.