McLean Dominates, Young's Triple Slams Door on Houston

Nolan McLean threw 7.0 innings of two-hit, zero-run ball, and Jared Young went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI as the Mets handled the Astros 6-2 on August 29. The story of the night was a fifth-inning triple that effectively ended any suspense.

Houston drew first blood in the first inning when Yordan Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Peña to put the Astros up 1-0. New York answered immediately — Young singled to right, scoring Lindor to tie it at one. That early exchange looked like it might set up a tight game. It didn't. Cristian Javier was in trouble from the jump, and the Mets made him pay in the fifth. Soto singled to right, scoring Lindor to put New York ahead 2-1. Then Young stepped up and tripled to right, scoring both Soto and Benge. Just like that it was 4-1, and the win probability swung from 74% to 90% in New York's favor on that single swing. That triple was the ballgame, and it wasn't particularly close after that.

McLean was the engine that made it all work. Seven innings, two hits, zero earned runs, three walks, four strikeouts — that's a performance that gives a bullpen a night off and keeps a lineup loose. Javier, by contrast, lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing 6 hits and 3 earned runs. Enyel De Los Santos came on in relief and was sharp — 2.0 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs — but the damage was already done. Houston's only real counterpunch came in the eighth, when Yordan Alvarez launched a 436-foot home run to right center to cut it to 4-2. That's the kind of raw power that makes Alvarez impossible to dismiss even in a losing effort — he finished 2-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBI. But any hope of a rally evaporated in the bottom of the eighth when Francisco Alvarez doubled to left, scoring both Semien and Young to push the lead to 6-2. Daniel Duarte allowed that run in his one inning of work, and that was that.

The Mets got contributions up and down the lineup. Lindor scored twice. Semien went 2-for-4 and scored. Soto drove in a run and scored one. But Young was the standout — 3-for-4, 3 RBI, and the author of the swing that flipped this game from competitive to comfortable. Houston's offense leaned almost entirely on Yordan Alvarez, which appears to be a recurring theme for this club when things go sideways. Final: New York 6, Houston 2.