Juan Soto blasted a solo home run and Tylor Megill pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the visiting New York Mets topped the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday to knot the three-game interleague series.
Soto walloped a 1-2 cutter from Astros right-hander Hunter Brown with two outs in the top of the third inning off the facing of the second deck in right field. His first home run with the Mets covered 390 feet with an exit velocity of 107.3 mph and spotted the Mets a 3-0 lead.
After striking out to end the game on Thursday while representing the potential go-ahead run, Soto finished 1-for-3 with a walk. He signed the largest contract in baseball history this past offseason at 15 years and $765 million.
The blast provided Megill (1-0) some extra cushion, although he didn’t need it.
Megill retired the first nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a baserunner until Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to center. Isaac Paredes followed with a single that advanced Altuve to third base before Yordan Alvarez produced a sacrifice fly to center to slice the deficit to 3-1.
Megill erased a one-out walk to Cam Smith in the fifth by inducing an inning-ending double play from Brendan Rodgers. He departed with a pair of runners on in the sixth, and both were stranded by Mets reliever Reed Garrett, who struck out Christian Walker before getting Yainer Diaz to fly out to center with the bases loaded.
Megill allowed one run on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts over five-plus innings.
Smith and Altuve walked in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Mets relievers A.J. Minter and Ryne Stanek pitched around those baserunners to set the table for closer Edwin Diaz, who breezed through a perfect ninth inning for his first save of the season.
Mark Vientos and Jesse Winker delivered back-to-back RBI hits off Brown in the second inning. Vientos plated Brandon Nimmo with his run-scoring double before scoring when Winker slapped a single into center. Nimmo led off that frame with a single and advanced to second on a fielding error by Rodgers.
Brown (0-1) allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.
