English
EspañolThe Mets walked off the Houston Astros in the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon to win 4-3.
Here are the takeaways...
-- In his second start and last appearance for New York before leaving to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Clay Holmes put together a great outing in four innings of work.
The right-hander allowed a run on three hits and a walk while striking out four and throwing 63 pitches (39 strikes). He lowered his ERA to 3.52 after allowing two earned runs in 3.2 innings in his spring debut on Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Despite a solid afternoon, Holmes did have some traffic on the basepaths and wasn't able to contain the running game as Jose Altuve stole second base in the first inning before Nick Allen stole third in the third inning.
Holmes allowed a leadoff hit in the first three innings, however Joey Loperfido's infield single in the second should not have counted after the ball hit off his foot before entering the field of play which the umpires missed. Holmes got even less help on the next batter who hit a double-play ball to shortstop Vidal Brujan who struggled to get the ball out of his glove before throwing it wide of Marcus Semien at second base. Loperfido advanced to third on the error.
With runners at the corners and nobody out, Holmes swiftly struck out Joseph Sullivan and induced another ground ball, this one handled by Brujan for the inning-ending double play.
The lone run surrendered by Holmes came on a sacrifice fly by Zach Cole in the third inning. Right before the sac fly, though, Isaac Paredes hit a ball to shallow right field that had Allen tagging up and thinking about trying to score, but Carson Benge showed off his arm and unleashed a throw home that stopped Allen in his tracks before retreating back to third base. Holmes finished his outing with a strikeout in the fourth, capping off his first 1-2-3 inning of the day.
As for Benge, he finished the day 0-for-3.
-- The Mets got on the board in the bottom of the fourth after Tyrone Taylor cranked a solo shot over the left field wall to tie the game. It was Taylor's second home run of the spring after he hit just two homers all of last season. Taylor went 1-for-2 and is now hitting .273 with a 1.091 OPS so far in camp.
-- New York took the lead a few batters later after a two-out rally started with two walks. Cristian Pache cashed in on another opportunity, doubling home a run on a line drive up the middle to give the Mets the lead.
Pache has been a star in camp for New York with eight hits in 11 at-bats (.727 average), including a home run and two doubles, good for a 1.932 OPS. Sunday's double was also impressive because of Pache's hustle on a ball hit up the middle. The 27-year-old is fighting for a spot in the outfield, although he's struggled throughout his young MLB career.
-- Jack Wenninger, SNY's Joe DeMayo's No. 11 Mets prospect, saw some more action this spring in relief of Holmes and after a clean fifth inning with two strikeouts, he struggled with his command and lost the strike zone, walking five straight batters to start the sixth (plus a wild pitch) and letting the Astros tie it up.
-- Houston took the lead in the seventh on another wild pitch, this one by Bryce Conley, but New York tied things up again in the bottom half of the inning on a solo homer by Chris Suero. Things stayed tied going into the bottom of the ninth inning where Austin Barnes led off with a double, followed by a walk to Suero before finally Yonatan Henriquez sealed the win with a single to right field.
-- Ronny Mauricio continued his impressive spring with a hit and a stolen base. He's hitting .286 with a .904 OPS and has two steals in two attempts.
Game MVP: Cristian Pache
Pache's torrid spring keeps helping the Mets and his hustle could be the difference between making the team when camp breaks.
Highlights
Clay Holmes works out of a jam with a strikeout followed by an inning-ending double play pic.twitter.com/4BkLmJyt0N
— SNY (@SNYtv)
Nick Allen thinks twice about testing Carson Benge's arm in right field 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/RxIXGcaxr7
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets)
Clay Holmes ends a 1-2-3 fourth inning with a strikeout pic.twitter.com/NXB0UPKboK
— SNY (@SNYtv)
A rocket off the bat of Tyrone Taylor! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/J4ZLW8qFwC
— SNY (@SNYtv)
Cristian Pache puts the Mets on top! pic.twitter.com/X2oslVBspf
— SNY (@SNYtv)
Chris Suero ties the game up with a solo shot! pic.twitter.com/yn1M2WSrjK
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets)
What's next
The Mets will host Nicaragua in an exhibition game on Tuesday at 1:10 p.m. New York returns to Grapefruit League action on Thursday, March 5 when it takes on the Washington Nationals at 1:05 p.m.