Mets 6, Astros 4: Bay, Martinez, and Wright Home Runs Overcome Gee's Poor Start

After six frustrating innings, the Mets put on a laser show and came back to defeat the Astros 6 to 4. Jose Reyes started the game with a single but got picked off, and the Mets were dominated by Bud Norris through the first three innings. When they finally threatened to score in the fourth inning, Carlos Lee somehow managed to not trip over his own two feet and catch Jason Bay's two-out line drive that would have easily drove in the runners on second and third base.

While Norris was lights-out, Dillon Gee looked determined to make his ERA look a lot more like his FIP. Gee threw five-plus innings, walked four, and allowed four earned runs. Despite the fact that he struck out six, things could have been a whole lot worse for Gee if not for some horrendous baserunning by the Astros.

In the bottom of the second, Houston had runners on first and second with nobody out, and on a single to Jason Bay, Carlos Lee was waved home from second base and gunned down at the plate. Though they didn't score in that inning, they got on the board in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Lee and took a 1-0 lead.

The fourth and fifth went pretty smoothly for Gee, but things pretty much blew up in the sixth. After a single, a hit-by-pitch, and a run-scoring double, Gee was pulled in favor of Ryota Igarashi, who allowed both inherited baserunners to score before Pat Misch came into the game.

The Astros then committed their biggest blunder of the game. With second and third and one out, Michael Bourn grounded to Daniel Murphy, who looked back Bill Hall at third base, just barely beat Bourn to the bag to record the out, and threw home to easily make a double play on the very-late-breaking Hall. It was at that point that the Astros truly deserved to lose the game.

With two outs and the bases empty in the seventh, Jason Bay hit a ridiculous home run that nearly hit the train tracks above the left field seats at Minute Maid Park. Misch kept the Astros in check in the bottom of the inning, and then came the comeback. Justin Turner led off with a single in the eighth, and two batters later, pinch-hitter Fernando Martinez destroyed the ball with a two-run home run into the second deck in right field to pull the Mets within a run.

Jose Reyes drew a walk, and after Josh thole made the second out of the inning, David Wright drilled a two-run home run of his own to give the Mets the lead that they wouldn't relinquish. There was a lot of talk in the SNY booth about Reyes needing to attempt a stolen base in that two-out situation, but it's a damn good thing he stayed put.

Taylor Buchholz, who has been so good thus far, began the eighth inning but looked shaky in recording a pair of outs. Terry Collins opted to use Francisco Rodriguez in the four-out save situation, and of course, Rodriguez made things interesting before getting out of the eighth unscathed.

Jason Pridie gave the Mets a big insurance run on a double in the ninth inning, and Rodriguez came back out to finish the game. He once again allowed a runner to reach base but didn't allow him to score, and the Mets won their third in a row.

The series continues tomorrow at 4:05 pm on WPIX in a battle of dudes who use their first initials as their names: R.A. Dickey and J.A. Happ.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* The Crawfish Boxes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: David Wright, +51.5% WPA
Big losers: Dillon Gee, -8.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: David Wright home run in the eighth, +56.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Chris Johnson double in the sixth, -10.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +10.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +39.4% WPA
GWRBI!: David Wright

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by sp0rtsfan86; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.