METS EVEN THE SERIES
Houston falls short as Soto’s homer, missed opportunities doom Astros
Mar 28, 2025, 10:26 pm
The Mets beat the Astros, 3-1. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.
Juan Soto hit his first homer with the New York Mets, helping his new team beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday night.
With two out in the third inning, Soto drove a 1-2 pitch from Hunter Brown deep to right for a solo shot that lifted New York to a 3-0 lead.
Soto's 390-foot shot came a day after he struck out on a full-count slider from closer Josh Hader with two on and two out in a 3-1 opening-day loss.
Before that, Soto singled and walked twice Thursday in his Mets debut. The slugger signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent in December.
New York starter Tylor Megill (1-0) pitched five-plus innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one.
Edwin Díaz struck out one in a perfect ninth for his first save, finishing a three-hitter.
Brown (0-1) struck out seven in six innings. He allowed four hits and walked three.
Mark Vientos hit an RBI double for New York in the second and scored on a single by Jesse Winker.
Houston scored its only run in the fourth on Yordan Alvarez's sacrifice fly.
The Astros had a runner on first with one out in the eighth when Luisangel Acuña made a diving stop on Alvarez's grounder to second, popped up and threw to first for the out.
Houston was 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.
Key moment
The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Reed Garrett struck out Alvarez before retiring Yainer Diaz on a fly ball to right-center.
Key stat
The Mets have won the last seven games started by Megill dating to Aug. 30.
Up next
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti opposes Griffin Canning when the series wraps up Saturday night. Arrighetti looks to build on a strong rookie season when his 171 strikeouts were the third-most by a rookie in franchise history.
A timely blast from Caratini fuels another Astros win
Jul 1, 2025, 11:32 pm
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.
He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.
“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”
Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.
The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.
“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”
You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.
#Astros GM Dana Brown has the latest on Yordan Alvarez who will see a hand specialist tomorrow
We'll discuss on @astros Pregame before tonight's game with the Rockies starting at 7PM on SCHN pic.twitter.com/7hyIFL9jah
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) July 1, 2025
Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.