The New York Mets won yet another Opening Day contest, defeating the Florida Marlins 7-2.

Good: Where to start? Johan Santana pitched like an ace, giving up two runs and striking out eight in seven strong innings. David Wright began his 2008 MVP campaign by going 2-4 with a walk and 3 RBI. All of Wright's RBI came on a two-out base hit int he fourth. Jose Reyes also came through with a clutch two-out base hit that brought home a run. You have to like how Aaron Heilman looked in the ninth, as well. Heilman sat the Marlins down in order, striking out two in the process.

Bad: Not much. Santana gave up a two-run home run, something that Mets fans may just have to get used to. Face it. Johan gives up the long ball. The bullpen created a Maalox moment in the eighth but didn't give up a run thanks to Jorge Sosa.

Ugly: Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider. Neither had a hit on Opening Day but it really didn't matter. It's always nice when you have to be picky in this portion of the post.

Overall: This is what you like to see. Strong starting pitching, two-out base hits that drive runs home and a bullpen that doesn't give anything up. Every Mets fan is happy with this contest and it's especially nice to beat the Marlins after the final series of the '07 season.

Grade: A
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The Game:

The Mets will travel to Miami Florida to take on the Florida Marlins at 4:10 PM today

The Mets will try to put 2007's collapse behind them by starting off 2008 against the team that finished them off last year

The Lineup:

SS Jose Reyes will bat leadoff, followed by 2B Luis Castillo, 3B David Wright, CF Carlos Beltran, 1B Carlos Delgado, LF Angel Pagan, RF Ryan Church, C Brian Schneider and LHP Johan Santana.

The Pitchers:

Johan Santana will be making his National League and Mets debut

Mark Hendrickson will get the start for the Marlins

The Notes:

2008 will mark the Mets 47th season of existence, and will commemorate the last season at Shea Stadium, where the Mets have played since 1964.

The Mets are 29-17 all time on opening day

This is the second time the Mets will open the season vs. the Florida Marlins (1999, the mets lost 6-2 to the marlins on opening day)

The Mets went 20-11 during Grapefruit league play this spring, giving them the most wins in all of baseball during spring training.

Be sure to head over to the Facebook Group for our In Game Discussion, which will be taking place during every game this year.
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