New York MetsNew York Mets vs. Washington NationalsWashington Nationals Pick Center

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Nationals' Strasburg gets crack at Cano, Mets After the Mets acquired Robinson Cano from Seattle he went out to eat "several times" with Mickey Callaway, now in his second year as the manager.It didn't take Callaway long to realize Cano would make his new team better."I saw it right away," Callaway said.And the left-handed hitting second baseman has made a difference right away for the Mets (1-0), who send Noah Syndergaard to the mound Saturday in Washington against Stephen Strasburg.Strasburg is 8-5 with a 2.83 ERA in 17 career starts against the Mets, but that didn't include Cano as part of the lineup.Cano had a solo homer in his first at-bat with the team. He also had an RBI single and helped turn a nifty double play in the 2-0 Opening Day win on Thursday.What was the most impressive?"Can I say all of the above? He is probably the only guy in baseball that makes that play," Callaway said of the double play in the third.A pair of speedsters were on the bases - Victor Robles at third and Adam Eaton at first - when Anthony Rendon hit a grounder to short in the third inning. The Mets got the force at second and when Robles broke for home, Cano threw to catcher Wilson Ramos and Robles was trapped in a rundown to end the inning against Jacob deGrom."Make other teams pay when they make a mistake," Callaway said of Cano. "He shows the rest of the team ... what winning is all about. Fighting off a good pitch for an RBI (single) or making a head's up baseball play (in the field). That is what it takes to win. He is an impact baseball guy who brings knowledge to what he does. He makes us a much better team." Nationals manager Dave Martinez, also in his second season, took some heat for not pinch-hitting for Max Scherzer in the last of the seventh Thursday with his team losing 1-0."We had six more outs to get a run. I knew that spot would come up again, I was trying to save (Matt Adams) to face either (Edwin) Diaz or (Jeurys) Familia if we get to that spot," Martinez said. "I communicate with Max day in and day out during the games and he looked good. I was trying to give him a chance to stay in the game and win the game, and I knew we had six outs with our top guys coming up to hit." "We had some chances early on and didn't execute," Nationals right fielder Eaton said. "That's kind of how it goes with the talent that was on the mound." Right-hander Syndergaard is 3-5, 3.43 in 12 appearances (all starts) against the Nationals, with two starts last year. Strasburg faced the Mets just once in 2018. New York is the team he has faced the least in his career in the division.Syndergaard made headlines recently when he blasted the team's decision to fly from Florida to Syracuse, New York, the home of the Mets' new Triple-A affiliate. The team plane was three hours late Monday leaving Florida, and the Mets worked out in Syracuse before heading to D. C. before the opener Thursday. Both teams were off Friday.--Field Level Media

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