Juan Soto and the New York Mets played to a 6-6 tie against the Houston Astros on Tuesday afternoon at Clover Park. You do not see ties often in baseball, but that is exactly what happened here. The Mets came out strong and built an early lead, but the pitching staff struggled with control late in the game.
The New York Mets Early Offensive Production
The Mets offense wasted no time getting to work against Astros starter Jason Alexander. Juan Soto singled through the infield in the first inning to set the tone. Bo Bichette followed that up with a line drive infield hit. Then Mike Tauchman launched a 3-run homer to get the Mets on the board first. Followed by Ronny Mauricio who tacked on a solo shot of his own to give the Mets an early four-run lead and chased Alexander out of the game before the first inning ended.
The Mets pushed that lead to five runs when Marcus Semien hit a double, moved to third on a groundout, and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Bichette. Overall, seven different Mets players recorded a hit in this game. Marcus Semien, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, Mike Tauchman, Ronny Mauricio, Austin Barnes, and Tyrone Taylor all added one hit to the box score. Barnes also hit a double to lead off the sixth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by A.J. Ewing.
Jack Wenninger Stands Out
While the pitching staff had a rough day overall, Jack Wenninger gave the Mets two solid innings on the mound. He pitched two scoreless frames in his first spring appearance. Wenninger had to work through some trouble, escaping the first inning and working around a one-out double in the second inning. He kept the Astros off the board and showed good composure under pressure. The Mets also got clean innings from Huascar Brazobán and Austin Warren in the fifth and sixth innings. Brazobán struck out one batter and walked one, and Warren issued one walk, but neither gave up a hit.
Control Problems Lead to Trouble
However, the Mets pitching staff could not throw strikes consistently. The team used ten different pitchers in the game, and every single one of them issued at least one walk. By the end of the afternoon, the Mets gave up 13 walks to the Astros hitters. For comparison, Houston pitchers only walked four batters. Jonathan Pintaro pitched a scoreless third inning but then ran into trouble in the fourth. He allowed one run, walked two batters, and struck out one over 1.2 innings. Jefry Yan had to come in to finish the fourth inning for him.
Things really started to fall apart for the Mets in the late innings. Daniel Duarte pitched the seventh inning and struggled badly. He gave up three earned runs on three hits, walked a batter, and only recorded one out before leaving the game. Bryce Conley had to come in to clean up the seventh inning, and he issued a walk and struck out a batter to get the final two outs. The Mets barely escaped the eighth inning without giving up a run. Jose Ramos threw out Lucas Spence at home plate after a Brice Matthews fly ball to right field, ending the inning on a double play. But the relief did not last long.
Josh Blum took the mound in the ninth inning, and things got very messy. He walked two batters and gave up a single to load the bases before getting pulled with just one out. Colton Cosper came in to try to save the game. He let a run score on a force out, and then Lucas Spence drove in the game-tying run on a two-out, two-strike single. Spence also stole a base earlier in the game.
The Astros scored two runs in the ninth to make it 6-6. Houston saw some solid at-bats from their roster, like Nick Allen who recorded two hits and a double. The Mets had no answer in the bottom of the ninth and went down quietly. The team finished with seven hits, while Houston collected nine hits to go along with their 13 walks. The Mets will need to clean up the pitching if they want better results.