ASTROS GAMER: Houston evens series with NY Mets

The Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 9-6 on Saturday afternoon at City Field in Queens, New York. With this win, Houston is back to an even record of 41-41 this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Mets sent Tylor Megill to the mound in this game. He had an easy first inning, putting the Astros out of action with a strikeout in order.

Megill’s opponent was Framber Valdez, starting for the Astros. He battled traffic in the first inning but left two runners behind, putting zero on the scoreboard.

The Astros went on the offensive in the second inning. Jake Meyers was at bat for a long time and it paid off when he sent a solo hit into the opposite field and put the Astros up 1-0.

Valdez struggled in the second half of that same inning. The Mets started with two baserunners. Then a swinging bunt was made worse by an error by Valdez, scoring the Mets’ first run. An RBI single by Harrison Bader made it 2-1 for the Mets after that, still with no outs. Another run was scored by an RBI double by Brandon Nimmo. Then Pete Alonso brought home two more runs. That made it 5-1 for the Mets after two innings.

Valdez was not at his best in this game and had to work hard to stay in the game in the first and middle innings. The Mets scored another point in the third inning on a solo home run by Mark Vientos.

Trailing by five, it became clear that the Houston offense needed to step up. They did just that in the fourth inning, first getting a couple of baserunners on base. Jeremy Peña hit a two-run double to cut the lead to three. Then Jon Singleton hit a run-scoring single and the Astros were within two points at 6-4.

Those were all the runs allowed by the two starters. Valdez managed just four and two thirds and allowed ten hits. Megill managed five and one third and allowed five hits.

The score remained 6-4 until the eighth inning, when Houston applied pressure. They loaded the bases and then scored a run on a wild pitch to make it 6-5. Then Alex Bregman hit a game-winning single to right with two outs and two strikes for a double to give the Astros their first lead of the day, 7-6.

In the first half of the ninth, the Stroos were able to score a few important additional runs. Mauricio Dubon scored with a two-out, two-run single to make it 9-6 and give Josh Hader a lead going into the final inning.

Hader capitalized on that lead and sealed the deal in the ninth inning, shutting down the Mets to secure the win for the Astros.

BIG NUMBER: 5

The Astros’ offense scored five runs in the last two innings, and this comeback helped them secure an important road win.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alex Bregman

Bregman only had one hit that day, but it was the most important one. His two-run single gave Houston its first lead of the game, which they never gave up.

UP NEXT: The Astros and Mets finish their series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. You can hear the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.