The Astros got on the board early tonight against Johan Santana and never looked back. With one on and one out in the Top of the 1st, Hunter Pence singled to LF, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Carlos Lee would then bloop a single to CF. The runner on 2nd Michael Bourn read the ball perfectly and scored easily to give the Astros a 1-0. Santana would retire the next hitter Chris Johnson on a fly out to CF, but then walked the next hitter Angel Sanchez. The next hitter Tommy Manzella hit a slow chopper down to 3rd on a 3-2 count. With the runners going David Wright was unable to beat the runner on 2nd Carlos Lee to 3rd base and then threw late to 1st, driving in the 2nd run of the inning and giving the Astros a 2-0.
The Astros would extend their lead in the Top of the 5th. With 1 on and 1 out, Carlos Lee stepped to the plate and hit a rocket to LF over the wall for a 2-run HR, his 19th of the year, and making the score 4-0.
The Mets finally got on the board in the Bot of the 8th. With Luis Castillo on 2nd base and 1 out, David Wright singled through the hole between 1st and 2nd to score Castillo, making the score 4-1. The Mets would put runners on 1st and 2nd after a 1B from Ike Davis, but Jeff Francoeur and Josh Thole would both be retired to end the inning.
Johan Santana was not horrible tonight. He struggled in the 1st Inning which has been a problem for him all year. He then settled down but made one mistake that cost him to Carlos Lee. His final line on the night was 7IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1BB, and 4 K, on 101 pitches. Santana has now given up the 3rd most first inning runs in the league with 25, only behind Kevin Millwood and Dave Bush. Johan has now lost 3 straight starts despite 2 CG's during that span, and falls to 10-9 on the year.
Jeff Francoeur had one of the worst at-bats I have seen all year in the Bot of the 8th. With runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Francoeur swung at 3 consecutive fastballs, 2 which were badly out of the strike zone. These type of at-bats will prevent Francoeur from reaching the level of play that people in ATL thought he could reach.
David Wright drove in his team leading 86th run with his RBI 1B in the Bot of the 8th.
The Mets had runners on base in the first 8 innings played tonight but were only able to score 1 run against Brett Myers and the bullpen.
Tonight's winning pitcher Brett Myers has now pitched atleast 6 innings in 27 straight starts.
The rubber match of the series will be played tomorrow afternoon as RHP R.A. Dickey takes the hill for the Mets opposed by RHP Bud Norris. Game time is 1:10PM.
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