HOUSTON — Juan Soto might have come up short in the ninth inning of his first game with the Mets, but there was nothing short about his 390-foot home run Friday night.
His first in a Mets uniform that actually counts, the superstar slugger teed off on a 1-2 cutter from Houston Astros’ right-hander Hunter Brown, sending it over the right field fence to help his new team win, 3-1.
Everything the Mets (1-1) couldn’t do on Opening Day, they did the day after.
The home run helped the Mets gain some separation over the Astros (1-1). They took two off Brown in the second inning, but after Soto’s homer made it 3-0, the Mets’ bats were effectively quieted. Right-hander Tylor Megill faced the minimum through three innings, but struggled to make it through the order the second time around.
Megill gave up back-to-back singles in the fourth inning to put runners on the corners. A fly ball to center field by Yordan Alvarez scored Jose Altuve, and Houston cut the deficit to two runs.
Megill then struck out cleanup hitter Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz to get out of the inning. In the fifth, he walked rookie Cam Smith with one out, but a 5-4-3 double play got him out of the inning. He faced two batters in the sixth, with Jake Meyers reaching on a wild pitch and Altuve reaching on a single. Despite getting ahead on both hitters, the Mets took no chances and brought in right-hander Reed Garrett from the bullpen.
The Astros made Garrett work. He fell behind on Isaac Paredes before striking him out, but then he walked Alvarez on the seventh pitch of the at-bat to load the bases with only one out. From there, he settled in, striking out Walker and getting Diaz to pop up on the second pitch of the at-bat.
Brown had just gotten out of his own jam in the top of the inning to end his outing. With two on and none out, Brandon Nimmo hit into a 4-3 double play, and Mark Vientos hit a fly ball to center field for an easy out.
It was a solid start for Megill, if somewhat inefficient. With injuries decimating the Mets’ starting rotation, the Mets are relying on Megill once again to make some big starts early in the season. Megill is just hoping to stick in the big leagues after three seasons of injuries and inconsistencies.
If he builds on this start, the Mets would certainly keep him around. Megill held the Astros to one earned run on three hits. He walked one and struck out six while using 77 pitches over five innings (plus two batters). Walks have been his downfall since 2022, but he managed to throw strikes and get himself out of trouble when faced with bad counts and patient hitters.
Brown gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits while walking three and striking out seven. The home run to Soto was a good pitch, but hung up above the zone in a bad location. As Brown started his windup, AppleTV+ put a chyron on the screen showing the odds Soto would homer in that at-bat: a 3% chance.
Soto has made a career out of defying the odds at the plate. A member of the 2019 Washington Nationals team that defeated the Astros in the World Series, he’s been booed relentlessly over the last two games in Houston. Striking out with a chance to win the game in Thursday’s opener wasn’t exactly how he pictured introducing himself to a new fanbase, but Soto made up for it with an early home run that gave the pitching staff just enough of a lead for them to breathe.
A.J. Minter, Ryne Stanek and closer Edwin Diaz held Houston off the rest of the way, with Diaz converting his first save of the season.
