Nimmo's 2-run double pushes Mets past Marlins 5-3

MIAMI – Brandon Nimmo broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double, sending Max Scherzer and the New York Mets past the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Thursday.

Scherzer (1-0) coughed up a three-run lead but threw six solid innings in a matchup with NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara as the Mets improved to 41-21 on opening day – the best record in baseball.

Garrett Cooper tied it 3-all in the sixth with a two-run homer off Scherzer. Jacob Stallings led off the inning with a single and scored on Luis Arraez‘s double.

“Ran into a little trouble there in the sixth, a couple extra hits and a homer really kind of puts a sour taste in your mouth finishing the day,” Scherzer said.

Nimmo had three RBIs from the leadoff spot after re-signing with the Mets in the offseason for $162 million over eight years. He ripped a low slider from reliever Tanner Scott (0-1) into center field to put New York ahead 5-3 in the seventh, propelling the Mets to their 41st win in the past 53 openers.

“The slider stayed over home plate,” Nimmo said. “I kind of dug it out a little bit and was able to get the barrel there. Just happy to see it fall and get past Jazz (Chisholm Jr.) and let the guys run.”

Nimmo also had a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Vogelbach for a 1-0 lead.

Before the opener, the Mets placed Justin Verlander on the injured list with a strained upper back muscle, sidelining the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner before his first appearance with the team.

Miami fell to 12-19 on opening day as rookie manager Skip Schumaker began his Marlins tenure with a loss.

Arraez was 2 for 4 and had a leadoff single in his first Marlins at-bat after Minnesota traded him to Miami in the offseason. The addition of last year’s AL batting champion was meant to be a huge lift for Miami’s offense, which was among the worst in the majors last season.

Scherzer permitted four hits and struck out six. The three-time Cy Young Award winner walked two in his first opening-day start with the Mets.

Drew Smith and newcomers Brooks Raley and David Robertson combined to strike out six over three shutout innings of one-hit relief.

Robertson, filling in as closer after Edwin Diaz suffered a season-ending injury in the World Baseball Classic, got three outs for the save.

Alcantara was lifted after giving up two walks and two singles that led to two runs in the sixth. He finished with an uncharacteristic four walks and struck out two.

“First game. I know I have more opportunities to not walk anybody,” Alcantara said. “I just have to keep working hard.”

The Mets made it 2-0 in the sixth when Lindor’s sacrifice fly drove in Nimmo. Big league batting champ Jeff McNeil added an RBI single, despite being hit with a pitch clock violation when Pete Alonso, who drew a walk in the previous plate appearance, was late getting back to first base on a foul ball.

FALSE START

Chisholm made his debut in center field after moving from second base when the Marlins added Arraez. Chisholm committed a costly throwing error in the sixth that allowed Starling Marte to advance from first to second. Marte eventually scored.

AN MVP RETURNS

Miami’s 1997 World Series MVP, Liván Hernández, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Jeff Conine before the game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Verlander will continue throwing at moderate intensity and will undergo more scans in a week. … Díaz (torn right patellar tendon) was placed on the 60-day IL. … RHP Bryce Montes de Oca (Tommy John surgery) and four others were put on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 27: RHP Sam Coonrod (right lat strain), RHP Stephen Ridings (right lat strain), LHP José Quintana (left rib fracture) and RHP Elieser Hernandez (right shoulder strain).

Marlins: LHP Steven Okert (left adductor strain), RHP Tommy Nance (right shoulder strain) and RHP Nic Enright (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) were all placed on the 15-day IL. … INF Yuli Gurriel was selected from Triple-A Jacksonville. … RHP Max Meyer was put on the 60-day IL (Tommy John surgery).

UP NEXT

The series continues Friday with New York LHP David Peterson facing LHP Jesus Luzardo.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers signed Jacob deGrom to a $185 million, five-year deal in free agency last winter hoping the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner could help them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and make a push toward winning a World Series.

They also knew the risks, with the pitcher coming off two injury-plagued seasons with the New York Mets.

Even with deGrom sidelined since late April, the AL West-leading Rangers are off to the best start in franchise history – but now will be without their prized acquisition until at least next year. The team said Tuesday that deGrom will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

“We’ve got a special group here and to not be able to be out there and help them win, that stinks,” deGrom said, pausing several times with tears in his eyes. “Wanting to be out there and helping the team, it’s a disappointment.”

General manager Chris Young said Tuesday the decision on surgery came after an MRI on deGrom’s ailing right elbow, but the extent of what is required might not be determined until the operation is performed next week.

Tommy John surgery, in which the damaged ligament is replaced, is often needed to fix a torn UCL, but Young and the Rangers didn’t go as far as saying the pitcher would have that particular procedure. After being drafted by the New York Mets in 2010, deGrom made six starts in the minors that summer before needing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2011, three years before his big league debut.

DeGrom last pitched April 28 against the New York Yankees, when he exited early because of injury concerns for the second time in a span of three starts. The announcement about surgery came a day after deGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Young said the latest MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage in the ligament that wasn’t there on the scan after deGrom left the game against the Yankees.

“The results of that MRI show that we have not made progress. And in fact, we’ve identified some damage to the ligament,” Young said. “It’s obviously a tough blow for Jacob, for certainly the Rangers. But we do feel this is what is right for Jacob in his career. We’re confident he’ll make a full recovery.”

Young and deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, said the goal is for the pitcher to return near the end of next season. Both said they were glad to have clarity on what was wrong with the elbow.

Texas won all six games started by deGrom (2-0), but the right-hander threw only 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start before leaving because of discomfort in his arm.

The Rangers went into Tuesday night’s game against St. Louis with a 39-20 record, the first time they were 19 games over .500 since the end of 2016, their last winning season.

Before going home to Florida over the weekend for the birth of his third child, deGrom threw his fifth bullpen last Wednesday in Detroit.

“I’d have days where I’d feel really good, days where I didn’t feel great. So I was kind of riding a roller coaster there for a little bit,” deGrom said. “They said originally there, we just saw some inflammation. … Getting an MRI right after you pitch, I feel like anybody would have inflammation. So, you know, I was hoping that that would get out of there and I would be fine. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

DeGrom spent his first nine big league seasons with the Mets, but was limited by injuries to 156 1/3 innings over 26 starts during his last two years in New York.

He had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings in 2021 before missing the final three months of the season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow.

The four-time All-Star didn’t make his first big league start last year until Aug. 2 after being shut down late in spring training because of a stress reaction in his right scapula.

His latest injury almost surely will trigger Texas’ conditional option on deGrom’s contract for 2028.

The option takes effect if deGrom has Tommy John surgery on his right elbow from 2023-26 or has any right elbow or shoulder injury that causes him to be on the IL for any period of 130 consecutive days during any season or 186 days in a row during any service period.

The conditional option would be for $20 million, $30 million or $37 million, depending on deGrom’s performance during the contract and health following the 2027 season.

“I feel bad for Jake. If I know Jake, he’ll have the surgery and come back and finish his career strong,” second-year Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I know how much it means to him. He enjoys pitching. It’s certainly sad news for all of us.”

Nimmo’s 2-run double sends Scherzer, Mets past Marlins 5-3

Jacob deGrom, oft-injured Rangers ace, to have season-ending right elbow surgery