Today is the first of many, but it is Opening Day. Hope Springs Eternal. Everything starts again, but with renewed vigor, determination and a chance.

The Mets start this battle today at 4:10 pm in Nationals Park. The Nationals are banged up, so if there is one time to beat the Nationals, this series is the time.

Mets- Bartolo Colon (0-0) 0.00 ERA

Nats- Max Scherzer (0-0) 0.00 ERA

Today’s Starting Lineups:

Mets

Curtis Granderson, RF

David Wright, 3B

Lucas Duda, 1B

Michael Cuddyer, LF

Daniel Murphy, 2B

Juan Lagares, CF

Travis d’Arnaud, C

Wilmer Flores, SS

Bartolo Colon, RHP

Nationals

Michael Taylor, CF

Yunel Escobar, 3B

Bryce Harper, RF

Ryan Zimmerman, 1B

Wilson Ramos, C

Ian Desmond, SS

Dan Uggla, 2B

Tyler Moore, LF

Max Scherzer, RHP

Notes: Surprisingly, David Wright is batting second today. On MetsOnTheAir, host James Flippin suggested that Wright would be good for a leadoff or number two role, primarily because he gets on base, and his average has been around 300 his whole career, sans last season. You can watch the game on SNY or listen to the game’s audio on 710AM WOR Radio.