Astros' series victory over Mets unfolded in most impressive sequence possible

It sure didn't seem like things were going to go the Houston Astros' way during their series finale against the Mets on Sunday. They were having to throw a bullpen game against a hot New York team and two of their relievers, Seth Martinez and Bryan Abreu, had to swallow appearances they would rather forget ever happened. Jose Altuve lost track of the number of outs, resulting in him getting doubled off, then was later ejected on what was a truly terrible call on a ball hit off of his foot.

After four unanswered runs from the pesky Mets, Houston found themselves in extra-innings having already used a bunch of relievers just to play a regulation nine innings, and it felt as though things could unravel in a hurry. The Astros were running out of arms and all of the momentum was in the Mets' dugout.

However, this is not the same Astros team that disappointed, well, everybody the first couple of months of the season. Houston was able to outlast the Mets, and a bullpen meltdown for the ages resulted in a 10-5 win for the Astros to secure the series win.

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There is no denying that, if this game had happened in May, the Astros would have been done for. That version of this roster had little in the way of energy and too many black holes in their lineup to be able to keep pace with a very motivated Mets team.

However, instead of Jose Abreu, who the Astros mercifully moved on from finally, flailing at the plate in extra innings, Houston had Joey Loperfido at the dish, who delivered the back-breaking two-run single in the 11th to give the Astros some breathing room. Taylor Scott and Luis Contreras, two bullpen arms that aren't exactly ideal choices for a close game, combined to give up one run in the ninth-through-11th innings. Even Jake Meyers chipped in with the go-ahead RBI despite his rollercoaster of a season.

If you weren't a believer in the Astros' turnaround before Sunday, you should be now. Especially after the 'Stros also erased a five-run deficit efficiently in the previous game, stacking impressive wins on top of each other.

Houston had the deck stacked against them this weekend with all of the injuries and bad luck, following the series-opening loss, yet they found a way to beat a team that has terrorized everyone for the last month or so. Just like that, the Astros had the best record in baseball in June at 17-8 and look like a force to be contend with in the division again. No wonder general manager Dana Brown wasn't willing to throw in the towel on the 2024 season so quickly.

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