Mets lose 8-7 to Astros as 9th inning comeback falls short

The New York Mets saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, as they fell to the Houston Astros 8-7 at First Data Field. It looked like the Mets had tied the game in the ninth, but umpires called interference on Rajai Davis for his slide into second base, which resulted in a double play that ended the game.

Noah Syndergaard struggled with his command during a 51-pitch performance. He walked five batters in 2.2 innings of work, but he also struck out four Astros and did not allow a hit. Syndergaard was charged with one unearned run in the first inning as the result of a Danny Espinosa throwing error on a Michael Brantley grounder to second. Chris Flexen came on in relief of Syndergaard and retired the one batter he faced to end the third inning.

The Mets scored the bulk of their runs in the fifth, as they put up a five-spot against Houston’s Forrest Whitley. With runners on first and second and two outs, Michael Conforto drove in his second run of the game with a single up the middle to cut the Astros’ lead to 5-2. After a Joshua Rojas fielding error extended the inning, Wilson Ramos connected on a grand slam to right-center field, which put the Mets ahead 6-5.

Houston pulled ahead for good in the seventh against Drew Gagnon. With two outs and a runner on first, the Astros strung together three straight singles to plate three runs. Rymer Liriano also committed an error in the inning on Kyle Tucker’s single to right, which resulted in an unearned run.

In the ninth, the Mets loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive walks and pushed a run across the plate on a Rajai Davis ground out to third. Gregor Blanco followed with a ground ball that Houston was unable to turn two on, which led to the tying run crossing the plate. However, umpires called interference on Rajai Davis, who slid well wide of second base.

Some more notes from today’s game:

• Conforto hit a home run in the first inning to tie the game. He finished the afternoon with two hits and two runs batted in.
• Aside from Conforto’s home run, the Mets did very little against Justin Verlander. Ramos picked up a two-out single in the first, but the team went quietly in the second and in the third.
• Jeff McNeil started in left field and went 0-for-3 on the afternoon in his first game back after scraping his wrist. During his fifth inning at-bat, a cut on his wrist began to bleed onto his uniform, although it is unclear if this was related to the aforementioned injury.
• Justin Wilson pitched the fourth inning and allowed two solo home runs to two left-handed batters in one inning of work.
• Jeurys Familia allowed the first four batters he faced to reach base and allowed two runs on two hits, one walk, and a hit batter. He recovered to retire the last three batters he faced.
• Edwin Diaz pitched one inning in his spring debut and struck out one. He walked two Astros, but Ramos was able to throw out Ronnie Dawson at second base to record the first out of the sixth inning.
• Dominic Smith struck out three times in four at-bats on the afternoon.

Full Box Score: MLB.com