#Mets pummeled as Rick Porcello has nightmare debut

At least Rick Porcello was spared the boos by the cardboard cutouts.

The new Mets right-hander had a debut to forget Sunday night at an empty Citi Field, failing to record an out in the third inning and setting the tone for a 14-1 loss to the Braves.

A season-opening series that had started in promising fashion turned south in a hurry. The Mets followed Edwin Diaz’s blown save and extra-inning loss Saturday with a full-blown stinker Sunday as Porcello and the bullpen got hit around, the offense continued to scuffle and the defense didn’t do much to help.

And after all that, they had to get on buses late Sunday night for a drive to Boston, where their next series begins Monday against the Red Sox.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid, which again, makes it very disappointing today,” said Porcello, who grew up a Mets fan in New Jersey. “Obviously I don’t feel good about what I did today.

“It was a terrible performance. Two innings and seven runs does not do anything for our team or for anybody.”

The Mets (1-2) had gotten a pair of strong starts from Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz in the first two games of the season. The duo combined to toss 11 innings in which they allowed three hits, two walks and one run.

Porcello surpassed all of those numbers on his own.

The 31-year-old, who posted a career-high 5.52 ERA last season with the Red Sox, was tagged for seven runs (six earned) on seven hits, three walks and one strikeout over two-plus innings. He had spent the offseason working on his mechanics, but that did not pay immediate dividends Sunday.

“I don’t think it’s a whole overhaul or anything,” Porcello said. “I think I’m on the right track. If I make a couple more pitches and throw some better changeups, this is maybe a different story and we’re in it a lot longer and later tonight than we were.”

Instead, the Mets were trailing 2-0 after the top of the first. Porcello escaped trouble in the second thanks to an inning-ending double play off the bat of Ronald Acuna Jr., who had a quiet series at the plate (2-for-15).

But after Brandon Nimmo’s RBI double made it 2-1, the Braves came back bashing in the third inning with some Mets defensive miscues mixed in.

Jeff McNeil led off the inning with a fielding error, which Porcello followed by walking Freddie Freeman and giving up an RBI double to Marcell Ozuna that escaped J.D. Davis’ reach in left field.

“We have a few guys in our rotation, like Rick today is a guy that’s a contact guy,” Rojas said. “We need to have defense behind him.”

After Matt Adams walked, Dansby Swanson ripped a two-run double past Davis to make it 5-1, at which point Luis Rojas had seen enough. He relieved Porcello with Corey Oswalt — taking him out of the running to start Tuesday in Boston — who promptly allowed a walk and an Ender Inciarte double that put the Braves ahead 7-1

The Braves went on to hit four more home runs — three off Oswalt and the other off Paul Sewald — as the duo was charged with saving the bullpen after Porcello’s early exit.

“I gotta execute pitches and that’s the biggest thing that’s on my mind or should be on my mind,” Porcello said. “That’s my job. So that’s my focus moving forward this week.”