Win Number Two

First of all, congratulations to Kirk Nieuwenhuis on his major league debut and first two big league hits. The first was an infield single and the second was a line drive to right field. It was awesome to see him make his debut.

And would you look at those Mets! Starting the season 2-0. R.A. Dickey threw six innings, giving up two runs and five hits. Perhaps the most exciting thing about this game was seeing the Mets offensive power. David Wright had three hits, including a home run, and Lucas Duda hit two home runs this afternoon. Josh Thole had two more hits and a run batted in as well.

Another positive from this game, and even from all of Spring Training, is Bobby Parnell's scoreless pitching. He actually ended last season with eleven scoreless outings and continued his dominance this spring. He pitched a scoreless inning this afternoon after his scoreless outing on Thursday. A big part of his success, he says, is that he has learned to pitch his way out of jams instead of trying to throw as hard as possible and losing any command of his pitches. He learned that sometimes it's better to slow things down and locate his pitches even though it can be fun to see the radar gun light up with 102 or 103 MPH. Bobby has also stopped throwing his slider and is instead throwing a knuckle-curve that he learned from Jason Isringhausen last year. It is great to see him growing as a pitcher because he can still throw 98 MPH and blow people away. He has a gift, he just has to know how to use it.

It is only two games but there is nothing wrong with a little optimism. Let's live it up while we can.

Let's Go Mets!