The Mets slowly saw their 6-1 lead evaporate on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, falling to the Houston Astros 9-6, snapping their four-game winning streak.
Here are the conclusions…
-The Mets bullpen, shorthanded Edwin Diaz suspended, was tasked with protecting a 6-4 lead over the final 3.2 innings of the game, but fell apart in the eighth inning.
Jake Diekman walked the first two batters he faced and while he got the next two outs, Carlos Mendoza turned to Reed Garrett to end the turn. But Garrett was a hitter Trey Cabbage to load the foundations to bring forth José Altuve. The right-hander threw a wild pitch to score a run and make the game 6-5 before finally walking Altuve to bring up Alex Bregman with the green race second.
Garrett got Bregman to a 3-2 count and appeared to hit him with a cutter down and in, but the Houston third baseman was able to get a piece of him for a foul tip to keep the hit alive. That proved costly, as Bregman hit a single to right field in the next pitch to give the Astros a 7-6 lead, rallying from a 6-1 deficit in the third inning.
Things didn’t go better in the ninth, when Danny Young allowed a two-out double and two RBI to Mauricio Dubonwhich extended Houston’s lead to 9–6 to allow an easy ninth closer Josh Hader.
–Tylor Megill got off to an up-and-down start Saturday, allowing four earned runs on five hits in 5.1 innings pitched.
The right-hander put the Mets in an early 1-0 hole after allowing an opposite-field home run to the Houston center fielder Jake Meyers in the second round. But Megill had some wiggle room after the Mets took a 5-1 lead in the bottom half and extended it to 6-1 in the third before running into trouble again in the fourth.
With two on and one off, Jeremy Peña hit a two-RBI double to left field to cut the Astros’ deficit to 6-3. Jon Singleton went on to hit Peña in the next at-bat to make it 6-4 before Megill retired Dubòn and Caesar Salazar to end the turn.
Megill was tested again in fifth place with two placed and one eliminated, but escaped the jam with consecutive eliminations of Yainer Diaz and Meyers. He came back to start the sixth and left first before allowing a walk to end the day.
–José Iglesias — the Mets backup infielder and part-time Latin pop star whose music has become an anthem for the team — had an impressive day at the plate, collecting three hits and knocking in the first run of the Mets game in unique fashion.
After Altuve botched a custom-made double play (which was ruled a hit) to put runners on the corners and no one came out, Iglesias came up and hit a dribbler toward first base in front of home plate. Astros Pitcher Framber Valdez made the curious decision to make a play at the plate trying to turn the ball over with his glove; instead, he threw it over the catcher’s head and allowed the run to score easily.
-Iglesias’s RBI single was just the first blow for the Mets, as they capitalized on Houston’s defensive mistakes with a five-run second inning. Harrison Bader put the Mets ahead on the next pitch with a single to right and two batters later Brandon Nimmo emitted a double out of range of a dive Jordan Alvarez to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Pete Alonso scored two more with a single to center field to put the Mets up 5-1.
–Marcos Vientos continued swinging his hot bat with a solo home run in the third inning to extend the Mets’ lead to 6-1. It was his fourth home run in the last five games. In his last 30 games, Vientos has nine home runs, 19 RBI and is slashing .292/.350/.585.
-On a more positive note for the Mets bullpen, Ty Adcock threw 1.2 scoreless innings in his debut with the team, allowing just one hit.
Game MVP: Jake Meyers
The Astros center fielder was a thorn in the side of the Mets throughout the game. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk, a home run and scored three runs, including the tying run in the eighth inning on Garrett’s wild pitch.
Highlights
What is the next
The Mets wrap up their three-game series against the Astros at Citi Field on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 pm ET.
Luis Severino (5-2, 3.29 ERA) kicks things off for the Mets, while the Astros have yet to name a starter for the finale.
