Amazins take opener from the Phils, 6-4; Seaver fans 8 & gets the win; Fonzie 3 RBI

BOXSCORE: 1986 New York Mets At 2008 Philadelphia Phillies 4/5/2010

Mets AB R H RBI AVG Phillies AB R H RBI AVG
E.Alfonzo 2B 3 0 1 3 .333 R.Ashburn CF 3 0 1 0 .333
K.Hernandez 1B 3 0 1 1 .333 J.Rollins SS 5 0 0 0 .000
C.Jones LF 4 0 0 0 .000 C.Klein RF 4 1 3 1 .750
D.Strawberry RF 4 0 0 0 .000 M.Schmidt 3B 2 0 0 1 .000
C.Beltran CF 4 0 0 0 .000 R.Howard 1B 4 1 2 1 .500
D.Wright 3B 3 1 0 0 .000 G.Luzinski LF 4 0 0 0 .000
T.Hundley C 2 2 1 0 .500 C.Utley 2B 4 0 0 0 .000
J.Reyes SS 2 3 0 0 .000 M.Lieberthal C 4 1 1 1 .250
T.Seaver P 2 0 1 2 .500 P.Alexander P 2 0 0 0 .000
J.Orosco P 0 0 0 0 ---- A-L.O'Doul PH 0 1 0 0 ----
B-B.Agbayani PH 1 0 0 0 .000 M.Williams P 0 0 0 0 ----
B.Apodaca P 0 0 0 0 ---- C-B.Abreu PH 1 0 0 0 .000
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 28 6 4 6 Totals 33 4 7 4

A-Pinch Hit For Alexander In 7th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Orosco In 9th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Williams In 9th Inning

Mets............ 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 - 6 4 0
Phillies........ 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 4 7 2

Mets (1-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET
T.Seaver WIN(1-0) 6 2/3 7 4 4 4 8 3 138 5.40 A1 D4
J.Orosco HOLD(1st) 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 18 0.00 D5 D8
B.Apodaca SAVE(1st) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.00 D9
Totals 9 7 4 4 4 9 3

Phillies (0-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET
P.Alexander LOSS(0-1) 7 4 5 5 6 4 0 112 6.43 A1 D3
M.Williams 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 29 0.00 D4
Totals 9 4 6 5 7 5 0

ATTENDANCE- 41,715 DATE- Monday, April 5th 2010 TIME- Night
UMPIRES- Harry Wendelstedt, Jerry Crawford, Mike Winters, Jeff Kellogg
T- 2:47
LEFT ON BASE- Mets: 5 Phillies: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Mets: 1 Phillies: 1
ERRORS- J.Rollins, M.Schmidt
HOME RUNS- C.Klein(1st), R.Howard(1st), M.Lieberthal(1st)
STOLEN BASES- J.Reyes(1st)
SACRIFICE HITS- T.Seaver
SACRIFICE FLIES- E.Alfonzo-2
WALKS- K.Hernandez-2, D.Wright, T.Hundley-2, J.Reyes-2, R.Ashburn-2, M.Schmidt,
L.O'Doul
HIT BY PITCH- M.Schmidt
STRIKE OUTS- E.Alfonzo, C.Jones, D.Wright-2, J.Reyes, J.Rollins-3, C.Klein,
R.Howard-2, G.Luzinski, M.Lieberthal, P.Alexander
GIDP- C.Jones, J.Rollins
WEB GEMS- Bot 6th: Jose Reyes robbed Chase Utley of a base hit.

Before a crowd of 41,715, the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the season opener by a score of 6-4 at Citizen's Bank Park.

The Mets jumped on Pete Alexander in the second for three runs, keyed by a questionable decision by manager Charlie Manuel. With two out, David Wright drew a walk. Then Todd Hundley hit a grounder into the hole between third and short. Jimmy Rollins gloved it, but rather than eat the ball, he decided to try and get Hundley at first. Bad decision-the throw got by Ryan Howard at first and the runners advanced to second and third (Hundley did get credit for a single, in addition to the Rollins E-6). Then came the decision that would burn the Phils-Manuel decided to walk Jose Reyes intentionally to get to the pitcher's spot. Tom Seaver, incensed by Manuel's "diss", promptly showed off his hitting ability by singling to center, driving in two runs. Edgardo Alfonzo followed with a RBI single of his own, and the Mets had a 3-0 lead after just 1 1/2 innings.

In the space of just seven batters in the second and third, Philly got even. Solo homeruns by Howard, Mike Lieberthal and Chuck Klein got the Phils even with the Mets after three innings of play.

New York jumped on top to stay in the 4th inning with 2 runs. Todd Hundley
led off and keyed the rally when he drew a walk. Jose Reyes came next and he
also drew a walk. Tom Seaver then laid down a sacrifice bunt. Edgardo Alfonzo
came up and he hit a sacrifice fly. Keith Hernandez stepped into the box and
ripped a base-knock to drive in another run.

Philly threatened again in the seventh. After Lieberthal fanned (one of eight K's on the day for Tom Terrific), Lefty O'Doul pinch hit for Alexander and walked. Richie Ashburn then singled. Jimmy Rollins also fanned, but Chuck Klein then singled to load the bases for Michael Jack Schmidt. Schmitty walked to force in a run, and Bobby Valentine had seen enough as Seaver had now thrown a very stressful 138 pitches in just 6 2/3 innings. Jesse Orosco was brought in to face Ryan Howard with the bags still juiced, and struck him out to end the threat.

The Mets lead was still only one run as the game entered the ninth. With Mitch Williams now on in relief, the Mets sought to get an insurance run. Todd Hundley started the inning with a walk off the Wild Thing, but was forced at second on Jose Reyes' grounder. Reyes then stole second, then advanced to third when Benny Agbayani, pinch hitting for Orosco, reached on Schmidt's error (the second of the game by the Phillies). Fonzie then got his second sacrifice fly of the game for that all-important insurance run.

The Philadelphia batters went down meekly in the bottom of the 9th against Bob Apodaca, earning Bob his 1st save.

Seaver(1-0) got credit for the victory, pitching 6 and 2/3 innings and
allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 8. Pete Alexander(0-1)
was tagged with the loss. He allowed 5 runs and 4 hits in 7 innings, as poor control (6 walks) was Pete's ultimate undoing.

'I was a little good, a little bad and a little ugly.' said Seaver, 'I was
just giving us a chance to win. Luckily I was able to help myself there in the second (referring to his 2 run single).'

When questioned about the decision to walk Reyes intentionally, Manuel offered this assessment: "I'd do it again-let's face it, it's the pitcher coming up, so while it might be beneficial to try to get out the number eight hitter so the pitcher leads off the next inning, I felt our best chance to get out of it was by going after Seaver as opposed to Reyes. It just didn't work".

Valentine was pleased with his ace pitcher's performance, remarking "That's why Tom got the ball today-he has that extra ability to work his way out of trouble when necessary and also help his own cause if needed. He did that twice today with the single and the bunt. That helped set up five runs. Now he'll drive us crazy and won't shut up about it until his next start".

*** TOP OF INNING 1 ***
0 E.Alfonzo 6- 7 3 Strike Out b-0
1 K.Hernandez 4- 7 6 Walk b-1
1 1 C.Jones 4- 2 3 Ground Out Double Play 1-o b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 1 ***
0 R.Ashburn 3-10 4 Walk b-1
0 1 J.Rollins 6- 7 3 Strike Out b-0
1 1 C.Klein 4- 8 3 Strike Out b-0
2 1 M.Schmidt 2-11 5 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 2 ***
0 D.Strawberr 4- 2 3 Fly Out b-0
1 C.Beltran 2-11 5 Fly Out b-0
2 D.Wright 3- 2 4 Walk b-1
2 1 T.Hundley 6-10 5 Single & Error - SS 1-3 b-2
2 23 J.Reyes 0 Int Walk b-1
2 123 T.Seaver 1- 9 5 Single 3-H 2-H 1-2 b-1
2 12 E.Alfonzo 4-12 3 Single 2-H 1-3 b-1
2 1 3 K.Hernandez 1- 3 5 Walk 1-2 b-1
2 123 C.Jones 6-12 5 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 2 ***
0 R.Howard 2- 5 4 Home Run b-H
0 G.Luzinski 4- 8 6 Strike Out b-0
1 C.Utley 4- 7 5 Fly Out b-0
2 M.Liebertha 1- 8 15 5 Home Run b-H
2 P.Alexander 3- 2 4 Pop Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 3 ***
0 D.Strawberr 6- 5 1 Ground Out b-0
1 C.Beltran 3- 6 4 Fly Out b-0
2 D.Wright 3- 5 3 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 3 ***
0 R.Ashburn 4-12 5 Walk b-1
0 1 J.Rollins 1- 8 6 Ground Out Double Play 1-o b-0
2 C.Klein 1- 6 5 Home Run b-H
2 M.Schmidt 1- 2 2 Fly Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 4 ***
0 T.Hundley 2- 8 4 Walk b-1
0 1 J.Reyes 5-11 4 Walk 1-2 b-1
0 12 T.Seaver 4 Sac Bunt 2-3 1-2 b-0
1 23 E.Alfonzo 3- 7 5 Sac Fly 3-H b-0
2 2 K.Hernandez 6-11 5 Single 2-H b-1
2 1 C.Jones 4- 5 2 3 Fly Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 4 ***
0 R.Howard 6- 5 12 4 Single b-1
0 1 G.Luzinski 3- 4 2 Fly Out b-0
1 1 C.Utley 3-11 7 Fly Out b-0
2 1 M.Liebertha 2-11 4 Fly Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 5 ***
0 D.Strawberr 1- 9 6 Fly Out b-0
1 C.Beltran 1-10 2 Ground Out b-0
2 D.Wright 5- 4 6 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 5 ***
0 P.Alexander 1- 4 3 Strike Out b-0
1 R.Ashburn 2- 9 6 Ground Out b-0
2 J.Rollins 5- 6 4 Strike Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 6 ***
0 T.Hundley 5-10 4 Ground Out b-0
1 J.Reyes 4- 8 3 Strike Out b-0
2 T.Seaver 6- 6 2 Fly Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 6 ***
0 C.Klein 6- 3 4 Single b-1
0 1 M.Schmidt 1-11 6 HBP 1-2 b-1
0 12 R.Howard 3- 8 5 Strike Out b-0
1 12 G.Luzinski 1- 5 3 Fly Out b-0
2 12 C.Utley 4-10 3 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 7 ***
0 E.Alfonzo 3- 5 3 Fly Out b-0
1 K.Hernandez 6- 6 3 Fly Out b-0
2 C.Jones 5- 7 3 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 7 ***
0 M.Liebertha 4- 6 5 Strike Out b-0
SUBSTITUTE PH- Lefty O'Doul
1 L.O'Doul 3- 9 6 Walk b-1
1 1 R.Ashburn 1- 6 15 4 Single 1-2 b-1
1 12 J.Rollins 6- 7 3 Strike Out b-0
2 12 C.Klein 6- 6 8 6 Single 2-3 1-2 b-1
2 123 M.Schmidt 1- 8 6 Walk 3-H 2-3 1-2 b-1
SUBSTITUTE P - Jesse Orosco
2 123 R.Howard 3- 8 5 Strike Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 8 ***
SUBSTITUTE P - Mitch Williams
0 D.Strawberr 6-12 1 Ground Out b-0
1 C.Beltran 1- 7 5 Ground Out b-0
2 D.Wright 2- 9 3 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 8 ***
0 G.Luzinski 3- 3 7 Ground Out b-0
1 C.Utley 6- 5 5 Ground Out b-0
2 M.Liebertha 6-11 1 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 9 ***
0 T.Hundley 4- 8 6 Walk b-1
0 1 J.Reyes 5- 7 5 Force Play 1-o b-1
SUBSTITUTE PH- Benny Agbayani
1 1 1 Stolen Base 1-2
1 2 B.Agbayani 5-10 5 1 Base Error - 3B 2-3 b-1
1 1 3 E.Alfonzo 4- 3 19 2 Sac Fly 3-H b-0
2 1 K.Hernandez 6- 6 1 Fly Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 9 ***
SUBSTITUTE P - Bob Apodaca
SUBSTITUTE PH- Bobby Abreu
0 B.Abreu 1- 9 5 Fly Out b-0
1 R.Ashburn 6- 5 3 Fly Out b-0
2 J.Rollins 3- 4 3 Ground Out b-0