Jacob deGrom pitched five shutout innings, Yoenis Céspedes homered, and the Mets scored a 1-0 win over the Atlanta Braves in their season opener Friday afternoon at Citi Field.

Cespedes hadn't played a regular-season MLB game in over two years due to injury before Friday, but the Mets' outfielder looked as if he hadn't missed a beat when he launched a solo home run of Atlanta reliever Chris Martin in the bottom of the seventh.

DeGrom got the start for the Mets and looked as sharp as ever as he began his hunt for a third-consecutive Cy Young Award. He allowed just one hit in his five shutout innings, walked one and struck out eight. However, he did not receive the win becasue the Mets did not score until after he left the game.

The win went to reliver Seth Lugo, who pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Closer Edwin Davis earned the save. 

The Major League Baseball season had been planned to start in March, but the coronavirus pandemic caused teams to adopt a delayed 60-game season, as opposed to a full 162 games. The Yankees began their season with a 4-1 rain-shortened win in Washington over the Nationals Thursday night.

The second game of this three-game series will be Saturday at 4:05 p.m. in Flushing. Lefty Steven Matz is scheduled to face off against Atalanta's Max Fried.