Francisco Alvarez made sure Freddy Peralta would be leaving his Mets debut with at least one win.
The Mets catcher helped the new Amazin’s ace on Opening Day in executing the first successful regular-season ABS challenge on Thursday.
Peralta’s 3-2 pitch to Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz in the top of the third inning was ruled ball four, but Alvarez tapped his cap to send it to review, overturning the call for a strikeout.
The good vibes didn’t last very long, with Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe hitting his second homer of the afternoon just a few pitches later to cut it to a 5-3 Mets lead.
But because of the challenge it was a solo shot, as opposed to a two-run blast.
Neither New York team wasted time in turning to the ABS challenge at their first opportunities.
The Yankees weren’t as lucky, with Jose Caballero’s fourth-inning attempt to turn a strike into a ball against the Giants coming up short.
Another point in the Mets’ favor was that viewers were treated to the actual process — an instantaneous review simultaneously shown on the outfield video board and to fans watching the Peacock/NBC broadcast — which Netflix failed to do on Wednesday night.
The Netflix broadcast, in the middle of an interview with Giants manager Tony Vitello, missed the entire situation.
