QUEENS, N.Y. — The Mets are back and so are their putrid offensive ways.
Held to just one hit by Freddy Peralta and the Milwaukee Brewers, the Mets dropped an Opening Day game for the first time since 2019, falling 3-1 on Friday afternoon at Citi Field.
Peralta’s lone blemish in six innings of work — which featured eight strikeouts, one walk, and 13 straight batters retired from the second to sixth innings — came from a Starling Marte solo home run in the second inning to give the Mets a temporary lead.
“Peralta was really good,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, making his debut, said. “It’s not a secret. When he’s on, he’s tough. Low release, up-chute fastball. He’s got deception.”
Following the host’s round-tripper, Peralta and relievers Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, and Abner Uribe yielded just two walks over the final six-plus innings on Friday, which featured testy moments in the top of the eighth inning where both benches and bullpens cleared following a dangerous slide by Rhys Hoskins on Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil.
Marte opened the Mets’ 2024 ledger with a solo shot with one out in the second inning, lining a full-count, four-seam fastball just over the orange line atop the left-field wall. New York’s first hit of the afternoon and the season traveled 381 feet with an exit velocity of 109.2 mph off the bat.
It was the only hit the Mets (0-1) would get off Peralta, who after a walk to the next batter in DJ Stewart, retired 13 straight to get through six with his Brewers up by a pair.
“Freddy is a great pitcher,” Mets slugger Pete Alonso, who went 0-for-3, said. “He’s gotten Cy Young votes, he’s their No. 1. He put together a great performance.”
Christian Yelich, who went 3-for-4, drew Milwaukee level to lead off the fourth inning — finally tagging Mets starter Jose Quintana who had escaped two opening laborious frames — lining his first home run of the season into the Mets’ bullpen.
Working his way into a jam again in the fifth, Quintana yielded the Brewers’ go-ahead run via a William Contreras sacrifice fly. Milwaukee’s Andruw Monsterio led the inning off with a walk and moved to third on highly-touted prospect Jackson Chourio’s first-ever MLB hit, a single through the right side to put runners at the corner.
Quintana got the hook with two outs in the fifth following a single by Yelich — his third hit of the day — but Drew Smith ended the Brewers’ threat by striking out Hoskins. Quintana allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in his Opening Day start.
“I thought he was OK,” Mendoza said of his starter. “I didn’t think he had the best feeling early on, especially the first inning… But I thought he kept us in the game, got back, and gave us a chance.”
The Brewers put up one more against reliever Jorge Lopez, making his Mets debut on Friday, in the seventh inning. Pinch-hitter Jake Bauers doubled before Brice Turang, also pinch-hitting, reached on a bunt single to put runners at the corners with no outs. Bauers came in to score on a Chourio fielder’s choice, but Lopez got out of the inning when he got Contreras to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Mets finally got a base-runner to lead off the seventh inning when Francisco Lindor drew a walk against Megill, brother of Mets hurler Tylor, but two weak pop-ups from Pete Alonso and McNeil followed by a deep flyout by Marte to the warning track in right field saw the chance fall by the wayside.
Tempers flared in the eighth when Hoskins slid through second base on a fielder’s choice and took out McNeil, by spiking his left ankle that ultimately twisted his knee awkwardly. The Mets second baseman began barking at the Brewers base-runner, prompting both benches and bullpens to clear, though no physical altercations took place.
“It was a late slide,” Mendoza said. “Obviously, we didn’t like it, Jeff didn’t like it, but he held through the base, held onto the base, so it was legal. Apparently, there’s some history between the two and that’s what got Jeff heated there.”
