Astros Strike Early And Hold Lead Late For 6-3 Win Over Mets

I can't believe this is only the second series win for the Astros and the first since the opening series against the Colorado Rockies.

This series could be considered a "Freaky Friday" series despite not playing on Friday. The New York Mets after tonight's game are 13-11, but have a -23 run differential, while the Astros are 10-14 with a +6 run differential. That's how baseball goes, especially early and maybe, just maybe, the Astros can complete their first sweep of the season tomorrow.

Pitching

J.A. Happ had a Game Score of 53, which essentially means he gave his team more than a 50% chance to win the game. His final line was what you would expect from a backend of the rotation starter, 6.1 innings with three runs allowed on six hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. Happ cruised through the first three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth and fifth innings. With 95 pitches through five innings Brad Mills decided to stick with Happ and was rewarded with another 1.1 innings of shutout ball.

Wilton Lopez came in to relieve Happ in the seventh and ended up producing another 1.1 innings of shutout ball. Wesley Wright was then summoned for a one pitch outing that resulted in a ground-out to second. Brett Myers needed only 11 pitches to get through the ninth inning and collect his sixth save of the season. Overall the pitching staff allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight.

Offense

Struck early and fast, before the second inning was out the Astros had a five run lead due mostly to a three-run shot by Chris Snyder in the second inning. The Astros sensing a need for more runs tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Jose Altuve leading off, for the first time, had a multi-hit game with a 2-4 night that also accompanied a walk. J.D. Martinez, Justin Maxwell and Chris Snyder were all 1-3 with a walk. Brian Bogusevic had a much needed 2-4 night. Jed Lowrie and Chris Snyder were the top two Astros on offense and are covered more extensively below. Overall the offense scored six runs on 10 hits and eight (YES! EIGHT) walks, while striking out only twice.

Defense

No errors on the evening, and there wasn't really any standout plays, unless you count the sliding catch by Justin Maxwell on a Josh Thole line drive.

Leverage Index and WPA Player of the Game

WPA Player of the Game is Jed Lowrie with a .169 WPA, for the game. His 1-2 night with three walks a homerun and two RBI beat out Chris Snyder who had a .082 WPA which included 1-3 night with one walk, a homerun and three RBI.

While Lowrie got the WPA award Snyder had the more interesting of the two homeruns which I made a GIF of, enjoy.

Source: FanGraphs

Tomorrow

Wandy Rodriguez vs Chris Schwinden at 1:05 p.m. CDT. I will actually be on the road to Greenville, SC to check out the Lexington Legends for their first game of a three game set with the Greenville Drive. If you're in the area and going to the game give me a shout out on twitter.

EDIT: Oh one other thing Mike Fast one of the Astros baseball analysts tweeted this during the game.