Clay Holmes settled in, Mets’ bullpen closed door en route to series opening win over Cardinals

Monday was another strong showing for the Mets ’ pitching staff. Clay Holmes had to battle through traffic and long counts in the early going, but he was able to limit the damage to just one run against before settling in during his first start of the season. The righty retired the final seven batters he faced, but allowed a solo shot to Nolan Gorman with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to bring his night to a close.

He allowed just the two runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts over 5. 2 IP. “First three innings a lot of pitches, but then he attacked,” Carlos Mendoza said.

“Fourth, fifth, and then the sixth inning he was pretty efficient -- overall I thought he mixed his pitch well and got a lot better as the game progressed. ” Tobias Myers then came on and provided the Mets with exactly what they were looking for, striking out two of the four batters he faced in 1. 2 perfect innings.

Myers is shaping up to be a legit weapon for New York’s bullpen this season. “He’s huge,” Mendoza said. “He’s a guy with that versatility and has the ability to get both lefties and righties out, he can give you multiple innings or just one inning if we need -- he’s a pretty important role for us, and did it again today.