Cabrera hit helps Mets in victory

NEW YORK » Noah Syndergaard pitched six sharp innings before leaving with a blister, Asdrubal Cabrera snapped a seventh-inning tie with a single and the New York Mets broke through following a pivotal replay reversal to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0 in their season opener Monday.

Syndergaard struck out seven in his first opening day start for New York, the only blemish a blister on the top of his right middle finger that ended his outing.

Atlanta starter Julio Teheran throttled the Mets as usual, throwing six scoreless innings before a sellout crowd of 44,384 at Citi Field. But once he was lifted after 96 pitches, New York took advantage of five walks by a shaky Braves bullpen in a sixrun bottom of the seventh that lasted 35 minutes.

Curtis Granderson had a sacrifice fly and Lucas Duda busted the game open with a three-run

double off ineffective reliever Eric O’Flaherty.

The Mets stopped a sixgame home losing streak to Atlanta — the last-place Braves swept their final two series in Queens last year — and improved baseball’s best record on opening day to 36-20.

New York, which lost its first eight openers in the 1960s, has won 21 of its past 24 season openers at home.

Rene Rivera led off the seventh with a single against Ian Krol (0-1). One out later, Jose Reyes walked and Cabrera singled to center field for his third hit. Gold Glove winner Ender Inciarte made a strong throw home, and Wilmer Flores initially was called out.

But replays showed catcher Tyler Flowers was in poor position when he took the throw behind the plate, allowing Flores to touch the front corner with his foot before getting tagged.

From there, the Mets stayed patient in the batter’s box and opened a comfortable lead.

Hansel Robles (1-0) worked a perfect inning for the win.

Freddie Freeman had three hits for the Braves, including a one-out triple in the fourth.

Syndergaard struck out the other three batters in the inning, and pitched out of trouble against the middle of the lineup again in the sixth.

BRINGING SEXY BACK

With fans still filing in, Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon received a standing ovation during pregame introductions as he waved and tipped his cap to the crowd. Big Sexy, who turns 44 in May, won 44 games for the Mets over the past three seasons. He signed a $12.5 million, oneyear contract with Atlanta in November. “This guy gave us quality inning after quality inning. He was a force with our young Latin players,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “I think he taught ‘em how to be major league pitchers, how to go about things, how to take the good with the bad. And we’re going to miss that . ... Bartolo had a huge effect on this team.”