Mets bullpens red-hot start continues: nasty stuff

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.The feelings were good at Citi Field throughout Friday’s home opener, the result of a crisp, 5-0 win over Toronto. But for all the star power that was on display, including Pete Alonso’s first-inning homer and Juan Soto’s first hit as a Met in Queens, all of that would have been overshadowed if the Mets had somehow blown the game. So when Reed Garrett entered with one out in the top of the sixth following back-to-back walks by Tylor Megill and the Mets up by just a pair of runs, the game was still very much in the balance. Garrett helped put an end to the suspense by striking out former Met Andres Gimenez and then Alejandro Kirk to end the threat and preserve the slim lead. And in the bottom of the inning, the top of the Mets’ lineup lived up to its reputation by scoring three runs — sparked by Soto’s RBI double. “That was huge,’’ Garrett said.

“Megill had a great start.I came in with two guys on base, executed some pitches.

We got out of it to keep the score where it was and our guys were going up and grinding out at-bats.” With a more comfortable margin to work with, thanks also to a run-scoring double by Brandon Nimmo later in the bottom of the sixth, the rest of the Mets pen made easy work of the Blue Jays. A.J.Minter followed Garrett with a scoreless eighth, striking out three, and Max Kranick continued his impressive start to the season with two more shutout innings. With 3 ²/₃ combined shutout innings Friday, the Mets’ pen has given up just four runs over 25 ²/₃ innings so far this year.

And their WHIP of 0.970 is sixth-best in the majors. Asked about the bullpen’s success in the early going, Garrett smiled and said, “We have nasty stuff.Our unit’s been great.” He also noted the efficiency of someone like Kranick, who has pitched five shutout innings in his last two appear...