Maligned pen comes up big in opener
Mets pitcher Frank Francisco gets the save in the ninth. (April 5, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
The count was 3-and-2 to the Braves' Jason Heyward, and a Citi Field crowd of 42,080 was on its feet calling on new Mets closer Frank Francisco for one more strike to preserve a 1-0 Opening Day victory Thursday. When Heyward swung and missed at a 93-mph fastball, there was joy in the stands, the dugout and the front office over a near-perfect performance from the rebuilt bullpen.
"That's how you want to end all ballgames," Francisco said of his Mets debut. "You couldn't ask for anything better. It was the perfect situation to show some negative people we can do it."
Francisco conceded he was nervous waiting for his turn, but he enjoyed the rush when it arrived and said, "If we stay together, we can have a lot more games like that."
Opening Day was "pitcher-perfect," starting with five scoreless innings from Johan Santana in his first regular-season start since undergoing shoulder surgery and missing the 2011 season. Then four relievers completed the shutout, allowing two hits in the final four innings.
Speaking of general manager Sandy Alderson's bullpen renovations, manager Terry Collins said, "Our guys we went out and got made Sandy look pretty good . . . We talked all winter that we had to improve our bullpen. It couldn't have set up any better, and they all came in and delivered."
The biggest acquisition was Francisco, who signed a two-year, $12-million free-agent deal, but two other newcomers also pitched against the Braves. Ramon Ramirez, who replaced Santana to start the sixth and wound up getting the win, was acquired in the trade that sent Angel Pagan to the Giants. Setup man Jon Rauch, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, agreed to a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.
But it was holdover Tim Byrdak who enabled the Mets to survive their moment of crisis in the seventh.
Ramirez retired the first batter before Braves shortstop Tyler Pastornicky tripled to right-center for his first major-league hit. Centerfielder Andres Torres strained his left calf chasing it and left the game.
Collins called for the lefthanded Byrdak, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery March 13, to face lefthanded hitter Jose Constanza. It wasn't until Tuesday that Byrdak was sure he'd make it back for the opener, but Collins told him he'd face only one or two batters.
"With one out and a guy on third, you have to go for the strikeout right away," Byrdak said. "You don't want them to hit anything in the air. You don't want to walk him with Bourn behind him."
With a 1-and-2 count, Byrdak threw an 82-mph slider that Constanza threw his bat at and missed. That was the first of eight straight outs by the Braves to end the game and the first of two strikeouts by Byrdak against the two batters he faced. He got the lefthanded-hitting Bourn on an 0-and-2 slider.
"We had a rough spring," Byrdak said of the bullpen. "To get this win, especially a 1-0 win, was big for everyone involved."
