Wade Jr. Two-Run Blast Flips the Script, Astros Win 6-3
Houston trailed by a run heading into the sixth inning before LaMonte Wade Jr. crushed a 409-foot homer to right that scored Diaz and turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. The win probability swung from 75% in New York's favor to 43% on a single swing of the bat.
The first inning was a fireworks show that set an aggressive tone for both sides. Jeremy Peña opened the scoring with a 435-foot shot to center, but New York answered immediately — Francisco Lindor went the other way with a 383-foot homer to right, then Juan Soto followed with a 396-foot blast to center to put the Mets up 2-1 before the inning was even finished. Three home runs in the first, two teams swinging with conviction. Peña clawed one back in the second, singling to center to score Diaz and tie it at two, with Nick Allen advancing to third in the process.
New York reclaimed the lead in the fifth when a Torrens groundball double play — shortstop to second to first — somehow plated Ewing, making it 3-2 Mets. It looked, at that point, like the kind of game New York was going to grind out. Zac Thornton had gone five innings allowing six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts, and the Mets bullpen appeared ready to protect a one-run edge. Then came the sixth. Wade Jr.'s two-run shot to right — 409 feet, Diaz scoring ahead of him — erased the lead entirely and flipped the scoreboard to 4-3 Houston. That's the play that broke this game open, and it wasn't subtle about it.
The Astros weren't done. In the seventh, a Varsho groundout to first turned chaotic when first baseman Young threw it away — Altuve scored, Paredes scored, and Walker ended up safe at third on the error. Houston had gone from trailing by one to leading by three in the span of two innings, and the story of the night was really that simple: New York's defense handed Houston two runs it didn't earn, and Wade Jr. provided the two it did. AJ Blubaugh locked things down with two scoreless innings out of the Houston bullpen, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts. Peña finished 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI. Allen went 3-for-4. Altuve added two hits. This was a complete Houston performance once the sixth inning arrived, and it looks like the Mets' early fireworks ultimately cost them more than they delivered.