Houston Astros Stun New York Mets With Largest Comeback Of Season
For much of Saturday, it looked like the Houston Astros were going to end up with another loss. They quickly fell behind the red-hot New York Mets after a five-run second inning as Framber Valdez (six runs and 10 hits allowed in 4 2/3 innings) clearly didn't have his best stuff.
But despite trailing 6-1 after three innings, the Astros went to work. They rallied for three runs in the top of the fourth, cutting the deficit to two runs. Valdez stopped the bleeding and Houston's bullpen was lights-out, yielding just one hit over 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Astros were still down two runs heading into the late innings, however, and were running out of time. Their bats finally broke through against the Mets' bullpen, scoring three runs in the top of the eighth to take the lead and tacking on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth. Alex Bregman delivered the big hit with his go-ahead two-run single in the eighth, while Mauricio Dubon's two-run double in the ninth gave Houston some breathing room.
Josh Hader nailed down the save with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, completing the Astros' biggest comeback of the season. They'd overcome a five-run deficit by scoring eight unanswered runs, shocking their opponents and much of the crowd at Citi Field.
The @Astros score eight unanswered runs for the comeback victory in Queens! pic.twitter.com/wWhIKUlqVu
— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2024
The game moved both teams' records to .500, with Houston at 41-41 and New York at 40-40. The second-place Astros continued their late-June surge and have now won eight of their last nine games.
Houston will try to take the rubber game of the series and close out the month with another victory on Sunday afternoon. The Astros are going with a bullpen game with Shawn Dubin (1-1,5.64 ERA) as the opener, while the Mets will counter with Luis Severino (5-2, 3.29 ERA).
TYLER MAHER
Tyler grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.com, The Game Day, FanDuel and Forbes. When he's not writing about baseball, he enjoys running, traveling, and playing fetch with his golden retriever.