First impressions from the first day of a new season

Nothing says opening day more than Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon, right?

Not exactly.

Opening day conjures images of Clayton Kershaw's curveball, Adam Wainwright's heat and Justin Verlander's postseason bling.

But Colon, the 41-year-old pitcher with a roundish body, pitched six strong innings in the Mets' 3-1 win versus the Nationals on Monday at quiet Nationals Park. The Mets' No. 5 starter was a surprising choice for the start because the Mets also have Jacob deGrom, the National League Rookie of the Year in 2014, and Matt Harvey, the electrifying 2013 All-Star coming back from an elbow injury.

So why was Colon on the mound Monday?

"He earned it,'' Mets manager Terry Collins said before the game.

The Mets lined up their rotation so that deGrom could pitch the home opener in New York on Monday and Harvey could pitch Game 2 at home. That means Harvey will pitch Game 3 in Washington on Thursday.

And even though Colon hasn't pitched an opening day since 2007 with the Angels, he was more than enough for the Nationals to handle.

He threw 59 of 86 pitches for strikes. He struck out eight in six innings, allowing a home run to Bryce Harper in the fourth inning. He showed calm, slamming the door on the Nationals after they had two runners on with no outs in the first inning.

He's got a 2.62 ERA in seven opening day starts.

He outpitched the Nationals' $210 million man, Max Scherzer. Colon's fastballs have late breaking movement. His sinker speeds up bats. He throws effective strikes high and low.

"Pitch movement is the best thing,'' Nationals rookie outfielder Michael Taylor said. "He gets your timing off. I saw only one four-seamer (fastball) right now the middle. He's got late breaking stuff.''

Harper said: "He's got a paintbrush in his glove.''

"He may or may not have a new pitch,'' said Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond. "He's a pro. All of his stuff is around the plate.''

The Mets won 79 games last season and figure they can challenge Washington in the National League East this season, even without injured pitcher Zack Wheeler. The Mets were 4-15 against the Nationals last season, so if they are going to contend, they need to find a way to beat Washington. They want to build on a winning record in the Grapefruit League.

"We can talk about contending, but talk is one thing,'' Mets third baseman David Wright said. "We want to build confidence and to do that, you have to beat up on some teams. We want to get to the point where we expect to win.''

This is only one game, but the Mets were excited.

"First impressions are important,'' Mets GM Sandy Alderson said.

Collins says beating the Nationals in the opening series would be a good test. For a while, with the way Scherzer was pitching, it looked as though he was going to join Cleveland's Hall of Famer Bob Feller (1940) as the only pitchers to throw a no-hitter on opening day.

And with the Nationals missing infielder Anthony Rendon and outfielders Denard Span and Jayson Werth because of injuries, the Mets might have caught a break.

Collins said the Nationals, especially with their rotation, are a dangerous team no matter what.

"But now would be a good time to beat them,'' he said.

While Scherzer's no-hitter ended with a Lucas Duda single in the sixth, Oakland's Sonny Gray carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning versus Texas when Rangers rookie Ryan Rua singled to break it up. Gray is extra tough on the Rangers. He pitched a six-hit shutout against the Rangers on the final day of last season.

Elsewhere around the majors after Monday's action:

* The Red Sox's Hanley Ramirez joined a Hall of Famer in the team's history books when he hit two home runs, one a grand slam, in the Boston's 8-0 win at Philadelphia. The last Red Sox player to hit two home runs on opening day was Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk in 1973.

* With the way that the Mariners' Seth Smith pounded the ball Monday in Seattle's 4-1 win against the Angels at Safeco Field, perhaps we should be asking: Who is the last right fielder from Seattle to win the American League MVP? The answer is Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. Obviously, we are exaggerating with Smith, but he did have two doubles and a triple, more extra-base hits than the Mariners usually get as a team during April.

* The Blue Jays blew away the Yankees 8-0 in Yankee Stadium and there were several noteworthy stories. First, Yankees fans gave Alex Rodriguez, coming back from a yearlong suspension for PED use, a warm reception, which is a victory for humanity and an out-of-ordinary response from Yankees fans. Secondly, Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka, who missed two months last season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, has lost velocity on his fastball - it has gone from 94 mph to 89-91 mph - and he was throwing more sliders and changeups, begging the question: How long can it be before he's scheduled for Tommy John surgery, which would turn the Yankees' season into a complete nightmare?

* Talk about bad timing: The rebuilding Braves' new boss, John Hart, has been saying that he'd trade all-world closer Craig Kimbrel for the right price, but as the season approached, no one thought that Kimbrel would go on the night before opening day. But that's exactly what happened. The Braves sent Kimbrel to San Diego and got two top-notch prospects. The best part of the deal for the Braves was getting rid of Melvin Upton's $46 million contract. ... Former Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis showed leadership by speaking to the team about the importance of proving everyone who says they can't win wrong. ... Of the trade, Alderson said: "The Padres are thinking short-term, the Braves long-term.'' Still, it is not easy to be a Braves fan this season. With Atlanta and Philadelphia, the NL East could have two teams with triple-digit losses.

* The prediction here is that the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg will win the NL Cy Young Award. The Nationals will likely win the division and Strasburg will improve on last season, when he had 242 strikeouts and 43 walks with a 3.14 ERA in 215 innings pitched.

* More postseason predictions: The NL MVP will be Andrew McCutchen of Pittsburgh, while Giancarlo Stanton of Miami will lead the majors with 47 home runs. The NL's top rookie will be Joc Pederson of the Dodgers. In the AL, Seattle's Felix Hernandez will win the AL Cy Young, while his teammate, Robinson Cano, will win the AL MVP. And the AL's top rookie will be former National and now Ray Steven Souza Jr.

* Cleveland, Toronto and Seattle are trendy picks to win divisions, but watch out for the Houston Astros. They blew 23 wins last season while leading after the seventh inning and fixed their bullpen with Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek. It's a long shot, but still, nobody was picking Kansas City last season to make the World Series.

* Former Nationals reliever Jerry Blevins, traded to the Mets late in spring training, got a warm reception during pregame introductions Monday in D.C.. He said the trade was unexpected, but the timing of the trade couldn't have been better. He had already packed his stuff in preparation for moving to a place in the Washington area, but after the trade, he canceled his lease and had the moving van redirected to New York. "The timing was lucky for me,'' Blevins said.