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Mets slug 3 homers, rally past Astros

May 14, 2011 - 12:28 PM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Fernando Martinez and David Wright clubbed two- run homers in the eighth inning as the New York Mets rallied for a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros.

Jason Bay also went deep for the Mets, who scored all their runs from the seventh inning on to win for the sixth time in eight tries.

The Astros, who had a pair of runners thrown out at the plate, suffered their seventh loss in nine contests.

Mets starter Dillon Gee fanned a career-high six batters in five-plus innings, while Houston's Bud Norris struck out eight over 7 1/3 innings.

Bay homered to left with two outs in the seventh, and the Mets used more power to grab the lead the following inning. Justin Turner singled to lead off. Martinez, hitting for reliever Pat Misch (1-0), then homered to right field.

Jose Reyes walked, and Jeff Fulchino (0-1) came in from the bullpen to retire Josh Thole on a fly ball to center. Wright, who was given a day off Thursday to presumably rest a sore back, homered to left to send the Mets ahead 5-4.

"He said he felt a lot better, which I'm really glad to hear," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "I probably need to do a better job of scheduling off time for him. I thought it was a big swing of the bat, kind of eased his mind a little."

Francisco Rodriguez escaped a jam with men at the corners in the last of the eighth when pinch-hitter Jason Michaels struck out.

Turner scored on Jason Pridie's double to right-center field in the top of the ninth, and Rodriguez closed it out in the bottom half despite Michael Bourn reaching third base. Rodriguez, who picked up his 11th save of the year, retired Carlos Lee on a ground ball to end the game.

Despite bolting to a 4-0 lead, the Astros squandered some early opportunities to make the game a rout. In the second, Lee was thrown out at home following a Chris Johnson single. Humberto Quintero popped out to leave a pair of runners in scoring position.

Houston loaded the bases in the third, but only got one run on a Lee sacrifice fly.

The Astros added three runs in the sixth, on an RBI double from Johnson, a single from Bill Hall and on an error from first baseman Daniel Murphy. However, Hall was thrown out at home on an inning-ending double play.

"It wasn't just one thing," Bourn said of the loss. "You can go back and it could be anything. Mistakes happen."

Game Notes

Astros owner Drayton McLane said Friday he has a deal in place to sell the team to Houston businessman Jim Crane. The deal could be closed by the middle of next week...In four games versus the Astros this year, the Mets have homered eight times...Rodriguez converted his 11th straight save opportunity...Houston's Hunter Pence had his 15-game hitting streak broken...Lee is one hit shy of 2,000 for his career...Bourn hasn't been caught in 22 stolen base attempts since September 3, 2010...It was Martinez's first career-pinch hit HR and the second pinch-hit HR for the Mets this year.