Dickey, bats disappoint in home opener

The unveiling of the 2011 Mets at Citi Field began in predictable fashion.

The most enthusiastic cheers were reserved for David Wright, Jose Reyes and R.A. Dickey. The loudest boos rained down upon Francisco Rodriguez, Mike Pelfrey and the team's training staff, including, for some reason, the massage therapist.

By game's end, however, no one in a blue-and-orange uniform was spared. The Mets were a collective failure in losing to the Nationals, 6-2, in Friday's home opener.

Dickey, whose knuckler was supposed to annoy the Nationals, wound up disappointing the sellout crowd of 41,075 instead. Betrayed by his signature pitch and a cracked nail on his pitching hand, Dickey matched a career high with five walks in five innings -- the most for him since 2008 -- and the Mets went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position as they suffered their third consecutive loss.

"It's a marathon," Dickey said, "and you don't start pouting when you're 100 yards back."

Terry Collins, managing his first major-league home opener in 12 years, started the day bubbling with nervous energy. After the game, Collins climbed onto the TV stage for his news conference -- and it nearly collapsed underneath him. Sort of like the Mets' offense, which is 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position in the last two games.

"I'm a long way from being frustrated," Collins said. "Game 8 or 6 or 7, whatever the heck it is. I'm a long way from being frustrated."

Well, no one would blame him for being a tiny bit upset. The Mets issued nine walks, which is a crime in this gigantic ballpark. Collins' lineup had seven strikeouts -- including two when merely making contact would have produced a run.

The turning point came in the seventh with the Mets trailing 3-2. After a pair of walks and Chin-lung Hu's sacrifice bunt, Tyler Clippard entered to face Jose Reyes, who whiffed on a 1-and-2 changeup. Angel Pagan followed with a soft tapper back to the mound that stirred another round of boos.

"At least I've got to put the ball in play in that situation," Reyes said. "But that's going to happen sometimes. Hopefully, it doesn't happen too much."

Dickey allowed six hits but only three runs, thanks in part to a brilliant diving stop by Reyes with the bases loaded in the fifth. Ike Davis had a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Lucas Duda's pinch-hit RBI double in the fifth got the Mets to within a run.

But in the sixth, after a one-out double by Carlos Beltran, Nats reliever Doug Slaten struck out Davis and Chad Gaudin fanned Scott Hairston. The Nationals pulled away with three runs in the eighth against Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell.

"We have a lot of guys in here that want to get the big hit," Wright said. "That causes you to press a little bit."

The Mets finished 3-3 on their opening road trip through Miami and Philadelphia, two difficult stops that should have supplied some early momentum for their return to Citi Field.

But Washington refused to play the patsy Friday in jumping to a 3-1 lead against Dickey, who suffered the cracked nail on the pitch before striking out Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning. In the second, it was the pitcher, Jordan Zimmermann, who drilled an 0-and-2 pitch over Davis' head for a two-run single. Dickey later walked Michael Morse -- on four pitches -- with the bases loaded in the fifth.

As for the Mets, they managed only one hit in the final three innings, when most of the ballpark was empty. It didn't feel much like Opening Day by then, though Wright was more concerned with his final at-bat in the eighth.

"I don't know, man," Wright said. "I was worried about [facing] Drew Storen more than who was there and who wasn't."