On the Mets beat

Good afternoon Mets fans. Welcome to another day on the blog. Marcus Henry will take you through game three of this four-game set between the Mets and Astros.

Mets (72-58) vs. Astros (65-64); 1:10 p.m.

Oliver Perez (9-7, 3.93 ERA) will start for the Mets, while Randy Wolf (8-11, 4.81) will take the mound for the Astros.

Last Starts: Perez continued his second half surge in his last start as he struck out three and gave up three runs in 6 1/3 innings of the Mets 7-3 win over the Braves on August 19. Perez got a no-decision, but got into the seventh inning despite walking five batters.

Wolf wasn't nearly as effective as Perez in his last start as the Brewers blitzed him for five hits and six runs over four innings. It's worth noting that Wolf his 11-5 with a 3.25 ERA against the Mets in his career.

Mets notes: Ryan Church isn't in the starting lineup today. Fernando Tatis, who is 4-11 with two RBIs during this homestand will start in rightfield.

Top 1st: Reggie Abercrombie struck out looking. Darin Erstad struck out swinging. Miguel Tejada fouled out to the catcher to end the inning.
Mets 0, Houston 0

Bottom 1st: Jose Reyes singled up the middle. Nick Evans flied out to centerfield. Reyes was thrown out trying to advance to second. David Wright walked. Carlos Beltran hit a two-run home run to leftfield, scoring Wright to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. It's the 13th time in their last 17 games the Mets have scored in the first innings. The Mets lead the majors in that category with 108 runs. Carlos Delgado flied out to centerfield to end the inning.
Mets 2, Houston 0

Top 2nd: Ty Wigginton doubled down the leftfield line. Wigginton advanced to third on a wild pitch. Mark Loretta flied out to deep second base. Hunter Pence struck out swinging. Jose Castillo flied out to rightfield.
Mets 2, Houston 0

Bottom 2nd: Fernando Tatis popped out to third. Damion Easley singled to leftfield. Easley advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ramon Castro popped out to deep second base. Perez struck out swinging.
Mets 2, Houston 0

Top 3rd: Humberto Quintero popped out to shortstop. Randy Wolf struck out swinging. Abercrombie bunted out to third.
Mets 2, Houston 0

Bottom 3rd: J. Reyes lined out to centerfield. Evans singled to leftfield. Wright doubled down the leftfield line. Evans moved to third. Beltran was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Delgado flied out to shallow rightfield for the second out. Tatis walked, forcing in Evans to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Easley was robbed of a base hit by Mark Loretta who made a diving catch on a pop up to end the inning.
Mets 3, Houston 0

Top 4th: Erstad reached on an infield single to second. Tejada doubled to left centerfield. Erstad moved to third. Wigginton struck out swinging. Loretta scored Erstad on a sacrifice fly to centerfield. The Mets now lead 3-1. Tejada remained at second base. Pence hit a two-run homer to right centerfield, scoring Tejada. The score is tied, 3-3. Castillo grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
Mets 3, Houston 3

Bottom 4th: Castro struck out swinging. Perez struck out swinging. J. Reyes flied out to shallow rightfield to end the inning.
Mets 3, Houston 3

Top 5th: Quintero flied out to leftfield. Wolf struck out. Abercrombie flied out to shallow centerfield.
Mets 3, Houston 3

Bottom 5th: Evans grounded out to third. Wright lined out to leftfield. Beltran homered to leftfield to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. It was Beltran's second multi-home run game of the year. Delgado lined out to shortstop.
Mets 4, Houston 3

Top 6th: Erstad struck out. Tejada flied out to deep leftfield. Wigginton struck out swinging (put out 2-3) to end the inning.
Mets 4, Houston 3

Bottom 6th: Tatis singled to leftfield. Easley popped out to first. Castro grouned out to first. Tatis moved to second. Perez struck out swinging.
Mets 4, Houston 3

Top 7th: Loretta grounded out to third. Pence walked. Heilman is on to pitch for the Mets, replacing Perez. Geoff Blum is pinch hitting for Castillo. Blum doubled off the rightfield wall. David Newhan is pinch hitting for Quintero. Newhan singled to right, scoring Pence. Blum was thrown out at the plate for the second out. Newhan advanced to second on the throw. The score is tied at 4. The line on Oliver Perez: 6.1 IP, 4H, 4R, 1BB, 8K. Michael Bourn is pinch hitting for Wolf. Scott Schoeneweis is pitching for Heilman. Bourn walked. Abercrombie grounded out to the pitcher.
Mets 4, Houston 4

Bottom 7th: Chris Sampson is pitching for the Astros. J. Reyes grounded out to second. Evans grounded out to third. Wright grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
Mets 4, Houston 4

Top 8th: Pence grounded out to shortstop. Joe Smith is in to pitch for the Mets. Tejada popped out to shortstop. Wigginton grounded out to shortstop.
Mets 4, Houston 4

Bottom 8th: Beltran fouled out to third. Delgado flied out to leftfield. Tatis grounded out to third.
Mets 4, Houston 4

Top 9th: Luis Ayala is pitching for the Mets. Loretta grounded out to second base. Pence lined out to first. Blum grounded out to first.
Mets 4, Houston 4

Bottom 9th: LaTroy Hawkins is pitching for the Astros. Easley flied out to centerfield. Daniel Murphy is pinch hitting for Castro. Murphy flied out to leftfield. Ryan Church is pinch hitting in the ninth spot. Church grounded out to second. We are headed to extra innings.
Mets 4, Houston 4

Top 10th: Pedro Feliciano is pitching for the Mets. Brad Ausmus is pinch hitting for the Astros. Ausmus homered to leftfield to give the Astros a 5-4 lead. Bourn struck out. Lance Berkman is pinch hitting for the Astros. Berkman flied out to rightfield. Erstad homered to rightfield to give the Astros a 6-4 lead. Duaner Sanchez is in to pitch for the Mets. Tejada grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
Houston 6, Mets 4

Bottom 10th: Jose Valverde is pitching for Houston. J. Reyes grounded out to second base. Evans flied out to centerfield. Wright grounded out to first to end the game.
Final score: Houston 6, Mets 4

The Mets fall to 72-59 and the Astros improve to 66-64. Pedro Feliciano gets the loss and LaTroy Hawkins gets the win. Valverde earned his 33rd save.

The final game of the series is tomorrow at 7 p.m. Mike Pelfrey (12-8, 3.86 ERA) will take on Brian Moehler (9-4, 3.87).