New York Mets at Houston Astros

· Major League Baseball

New York Mets

0-1, 0-1 Away

Final
1 - 3

Houston Astros

1-0, 1-0 Home

Hader strikes out Soto with 2 on to save Astros' 3-1 win over Mets

After loading the bases with nobody out in the ninth, Hader fanned backup catcher Hayden Senger in his first major league at-bat. Francisco Lindor's sacrifice fly made it 3-1, and there were runners on first and third when Hader struck out Soto swinging at a full-count slider wide of the zone for his 200th career save.

Soto singled and walked twice in his Mets debut after signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent this offseason.

Making his fourth straight opening day start, Valdez (1-0) allowed four hits and struck out four.

Converted reliever Clay Holmes (0-1) yielded five hits and three runs — two earned — while walking four in 4 2/3 innings. Pitching on his 32nd birthday in his Mets debut, the former All-Star closer with the Yankees made his first big league start since making four as a rookie with Pittsburgh in 2018.

Jeremy Peña got hit by a pitch with one out in the second before touted prospect Cam Smith grounded an opposite-field single on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Brendan Rodgers walked to load the bases and Houston took a 1-0 lead when Jake Meyers grounded into a forceout that scored Peña.

Yainer Diaz hit an RBI single in a two-run third that extended the lead to 3-0.

The Mets debuted the No. 7 patches they’ll wear on their uniforms all season to remember Ed Kranepool, who died in September at 79. Kranepool spent his entire 18-year career with the Mets and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 1990.

Key moment Hader finally closed it out on his 35th pitch — two more than his season high last year.

Key stat Houston’s Jose Altuve made his first career start in left field after making his previous 1,749 starts in the field at second base.

Up next Mets RHP Tylor Megill opposes RHP Hunter Brown when the series continues Friday night.

How can I watch New York Mets vs. Houston Astros?

TV Channel: Mets at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Space City Home Network.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Soto struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Lindor hit sacrifice fly to center, Marte scored, Taylor to third.
	9th Inning	Senger struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Acuña walked, Taylor to second, Marte to third.
	9th Inning	Taylor singled to left, Marte to second.
	9th Inning	Marte singled to left.

Statistics

NYM		HOU
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	1
11	Ground Balls	15
7	Strikeouts	7
1	Runs Batted In	2
0	Sacrifice Hit	1
6	Hits	7
0	Stolen Bases	0
6	Walks	5
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	3
1	Ground Into Double Play	1
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
30	At Bats	29
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
22	Runners Left On Base	16
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	0
13	Fly Balls	8
0	Caught Stealing	0
150	Pitches	137
0	Games Started	0
1	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
7	Total Bases	7
38	Plate Appearances	36
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
1	Extra Base Hits	0
3.0	Runs Created	3.1
.200	Batting Average	.241
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.233	Slugging Percentage	.241
.233	Secondary Average	.172
.342	On Base Percentage	.371
.575	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.613
0.8	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.9
3.1	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	3.5
12.0	Batter Rating	17.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.95	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.81
.033	Isolated Power	.000
0.86	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.71
.158	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.139
.033	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.069
2.0	Runs Produced	5.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	0.7
0.4	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.3
68.3	MLB Rating	72.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0