Juan Soto hit his first home run as a Met, Tylor Megill threw five innings of one-run ball and Francisco Lindor made a couple of plays at short while simultaneously fielding questions from the broadcast booth. In the end, New York beat the Houston Astros 3-1 Friday at Daikin Park for their first victory of the season.
Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
A day after striking out to end an Opening Day loss, Soto took Astros starter Hunter Brown 390 feet to right for a solo shot that gave the Mets (1-1) a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
“That was pretty impressive, I’m not gonna lie,” manager Carlos Mendoza told the Apple TV+ broadcast booth during the game. “You know, when he’s got the ability to turn a pitch when it’s 96, above the strike zone, up and in. That’s pretty incredible.”
Two games into his 15-year contract, Soto is 2-for-6 with three walks.
Megill (1-0) gave up one run on three hits, fanned six and walked one in five innings.
“I think it starts with him attacking,” Mendoza said in the fourth inning. “Throwing strikes, getting ahead of hitters and then staying on the attack. I like how he’s using all of his pitches. I like how he use the curveball to get ahead for (Jake) Meyers there. He’s got to do that. He’s got to attack and stay on the attack.”
The bullpen was brilliant as well. Reed Garrett relieved Megill with two on and none out in the sixth and escaped unscathed. A.J. Minter threw a scoreless seventh in his Mets debut, Ryne Stanek handled the eighth and Edwin Díaz earned his first save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
New York opened the scoring with a two-run rally in the second that was kick-started by an Astros error. Brown had Brandon Nimmo picked off between first and second – Nimmo took off while Brown was in the stretch – but second baseman Brendan Rodgers dropped Brown’s throw (It goes in the books as a caught stealing for Nimmo and an error on Rodgers).
With Nimmo in scoring position, Mark Vientos doubled him home and Jesse Winker followed with an RBI single.
The TV booth interviewed Lindor in the bottom of the second, and he deftly fielded a grounder and caught a line out between questions.
“I was expecting it because every time you get the mic, the ball comes to you,” Lindor joked.
Stat of the Game
The Mets’ bullpen has thrown 7 1/3 scoreless innings to start the season. Give an assist to second baseman Luisangel Acuña, who made a diving stop in the hole and threw out Yordan Alvarez with a runner on in the eighth.
Player of the Game
Megill, who by his own admission has struggled with consistency throughout his career, is off to a good start. He threw 49 of 77 pitches for strikes and touched 98 mph with his four-seam fastball.
On Deck
Griffin Canning, who had a nice spring training (1.88 ERA, 14 1/3 innings) after leading the American League in earned runs allowed with the Los Angeles Angels last year, will make his Mets debut. Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, who went 7-13 with a 4.53 ERA and 1.40 WHIP as a rookie in 2024, goes for Houston. Game time is 7:15 p.m. ET, and coverage will air on FOX.
