The Astros took game 3 of the wraparound against a Mets team that was sweating as if this was a playoff game. The Astros, on the other hand, gave their only real offensive threat, Lance, the day off.
The Mets got 2 in the 1st on a Beltran homer. It would have been 3 but J Reyes knew nothing about our man Abercrombie and tried to advance from 1st on a medium fly to center.
Astros had a chance to answer back in the top the 2nd. Wigginton threaded a double down the 3b line and was on his toes when a fastball bounced out of the catchers’ glove, he advanced to 3rd. But Loretta popped to short right, Pence wailed at a high fastball on a 3-2 count, and the new guy Castillo flied out to short right.
(Aside, in the closing ceremony, is the double decker bus from London a poke at Beijing because London wont have to ban cars for their Olympics so that people can breath? I hear it was either the bus or a tribute to tea.)
In the 3rd the Mess loaded the bases with 1 out. Wolf got Delgado to pop out. Then gave up a free run as he walked Tatis. Loretta saved the day with a diving catch, real layed out diving, not half lunge on the knee Edmonds diving, on a dying quail out in short right.
In the 4th, The Redemption Inning, Loretta brought home a run on a sac fly and Pence slaughtered a low fastball for a line drive 2 run homer. The game was tied at 3.
Beltran, with 2 outs and 2 strikes, hit his 2nd homer of the day in the 5th to put his team up again 4-3.
In the 7th, after a walk, Geoff Blum, the best .240 hitter in the league, smacked a pinch hit double. Then the Mess started dealing relievers like a coked up baccarat dealer. They pull Perez for the right hander Heilman, Coopers counters by pinch hitting the lefty, and latest in a long line of scrappy, effective, and diminutive utility players, Newhan. Newhan cracks a single, scoring one, but Blum is caught at home on an ill advised attempt with only one out. Otherwise the Astros have a runner at 3rd with one out and a pinch hitter, Bourn, who can bunt. Now the Mets bring in left hander Schoenweis who gets Bourn and then Abercrombie to end the inning with the score tied at 4.
Randy Wolf, who apparently owns Shea, put in a respectable 6 inning appearance. Sampson, the revived Hawkins and Jose Valverde shut down the Mess for the last 4.
The score stays at 4 until the 10th. The Mets 5th reliever, (Mets haven’t a chance in post season with these relievers) Feliciano, promptly serves up a homer to Brad Ausmus and then Erstad also homers with 2 outs.
Valverde got another save, 3 up 3 down.