Boom!
With one clutch swing, sizzling Michael Conforto delivered the Mets an edge-of-your-seat 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Conforto tagged a solo homer leadng off the top of the ninth to snap a 1-1 deadlock. In the process, he collected his fifth dinger of the season and helped New York (7-3) extend its win streak to four.
The marquee matchup of Jacob deGrom against Justin Verlander nearly lived up to the hype. Without his electric stuff, deGrom battled through seven turbulent innings by his own standards, dancing around six hits and three walks with four strikeouts and the invaluable assist of tidy defense. He got lifts in the first two innings with double plays to extinguish threats.
Verlander countered emphatically, fanning a dozen while surrendering three hits and as many walks before his 115-pitch count signaled his end with one out in the seventh. Both entered with impeccable 0.00 ERAs, however each was tagged for his first earned run of the season.
Yuri Gurriel, who staked Houston (9-2) to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the fourth, led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off closer Edwin Diaz. Diaz induced George Springer into a groud out to third baseman Jeff McNeil, who held the runner out before Carlos Correa scorched a line drive that appeared destined for center field to potentially tie the game.
Amed Rosario had other ideas. The Mets' shortstop made a diving stab to his left, got to his feet and beat Gurriel back to the bag to stamp the game-ending double play.
The Mets evened the game at 1-1 in the fifth. Wilson Ramps single and took third on Jeff McNeil's textbook execution of a hit-and-run with a base hit. One batter later, Rosario roped an RBI single.
There was troubling concern in the middle of the Mets' order. Pete Alonso, who is still seeking his first home run of the season, fanned four times and Robinson Cano absorbed three strikeouts.
Seth Lugo worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless eighth to pocket the win and even his mark at 1-1 while Diaz recorded his first save, promising based off his track record over the second half of '19 and his savvy to neutralize the 'Stros with no margin for error.
