The Mets, with Del Unser and Wayne Garrett hitting home runs, spoiled Bill Virdon's Houston managerial debut by beating the Astros, 6-3. Unser and Garrett connected with the bases empty in third and fourth innings, respectively.

Winning pitcher Jon Matlack singled and scored in the fifth and the Mets expanded their lead to 6-0 in the eighth on Garrett's RBI single and a two-run double by Jerry Grote. Matlack was within one out of a complete game shutout when Cesar Cedeno and Cliff Johnson belted back-to-back homers, Cedeno's coming with a mate aboard. [The Sporting News]

New York Mets 6, Houston Astros 3

Game Played on Tuesday, August 19, 1975 (Night game) at Astrodome

Mets 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 - 6 11 0 Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 3 9 1 Mets AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Unser cf 5 1 2 1 0 1 .287 Howard lf 4 0 2 0 0 2 .293 Millan 2b 4 0 3 0 1 0 .301 Gross rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .305 Kranepool 1b 4 1 1 1 1 0 .346 Cedeno cf 4 1 1 2 0 0 .270 Staub rf 5 1 1 0 0 0 .279 Johnson 1b,c 4 1 2 1 0 1 .286 Garrett 3b 4 2 2 2 0 0 .268 Rader 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .231 Milner lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Helms 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .171 Grote c 3 0 1 2 1 0 .292 Boswell ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .247 Phillips ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .250 DaVanon ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .318 Matlack p 4 1 1 0 0 1 .061 Cruz ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .255 Lockwood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Jutze c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .230 Koosman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .177 Cosgrove p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Sosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 Watson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .328 Granger p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Dierker p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .079 Cabell ph,1b 2 1 1 0 0 1 .262 Totals 37 6 11 6 3 2 Totals 33 3 9 3 1 7 Time of Game: 2:29 Attendance: 7,843 Left on Base: Mets 7, Astros 4 DP: Mets 3, Astros 1 Errors: Gross Doubles: Grote (12), Cabell (15) Home Runs: Unser (6), Garrett (6), Cedeno (7), Johnson (11) Stolen Bases: Howard (18) GIDP: Kranepool (9), DaVanon (2), Gross (7), Watson (10) Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Matlack W(14-8) 8.2 8 3 3 0 7 2 31 3.27 Lockwood 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0.59 Koosman SV(2) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3.71 Totals 9 9 3 3 1 7 2 34 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Dierker L(11-13) 6 5 3 3 3 0 2 25 3.95 Cosgrove 1.2 3 3 3 0 2 0 8 2.56 Sosa 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3.52 Granger 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 2.81 Totals 9 11 6 6 3 2 2 40 Wild Pitches: Sosa (1) Umpires: HP - Chris Pelekoudas, 1B - Paul Pryor, 2B - Nick Colosi, 3B - John McSherry METS 1ST: Unser grounded out (second to first); Millan grounded out (third to first); Kranepool walked; Staub forced Kranepool (shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Howard singled to left; Howard stole second; Gross struck out; Cedeno flied to left; Johnson struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. METS 2ND: Garrett popped to third in foul territory; Milner grounded out (second to first); Grote walked; Phillips flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Rader lined to center; Helms singled to left; DaVanon grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Helms out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. METS 3RD: Matlack flied to left; Unser homered; Millan walked; Kranepool grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Millan out at second]; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 3RD: Jutze flied to center; Dierker was called out on strikes; Howard struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 1, Astros 0. METS 4TH: Staub flied to center; Garrett homered; Milner grounded out (second to first); Grote flied to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 2, Astros 0. ASTROS 4TH: Gross flied to center; Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); Johnson singled to left; Rader forced Johnson (third to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 2, Astros 0. METS 5TH: Phillips flied to center; Matlack singled to left; Unser singled to center [Matlack to second]; Millan singled to center [Unser to second, Matlack to third]; Kranepool grounded out (first to pitcher) [Millan to second, Unser to third, Matlack scored]; Staub grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 0. ASTROS 5TH: Helms flied to right; DaVanon grounded out (second to first); Jutze grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 0. METS 6TH: Garrett flied to center; Milner flied to center; Grote grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 0. ASTROS 6TH: CABELL BATTED FOR DIERKER; Cabell struck out; Howard singled to center; Gross grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Howard out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 0. METS 7TH: COSGROVE REPLACED JUTZE (PITCHING); CABELL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); JOHNSON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING C ); Phillips flied to center; Matlack was called out on strikes; Unser was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 0. ASTROS 7TH: Cedeno flied to center; Johnson grounded out (shortstop to first); Rader struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 0. METS 8TH: Millan singled to right; Kranepool forced Millan (pitcher to shortstop); Staub singled to right [Kranepool to third]; Garrett singled to right [Staub to second, Kranepool scored]; Milner popped to third in foul territory; SOSA REPLACED COSGROVE (PITCHING); Sosa threw a wild pitch [Garrett to second, Staub to third]; Grote doubled to right [Garrett scored, Staub scored, Grote to third (error by Gross)]; Phillips grounded out (first unassisted); 3 R, 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Mets 6, Astros 0. ASTROS 8TH: Helms grounded out (shortstop to first); On a bunt DaVanon singled; WATSON BATTED FOR SOSA; Watson grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [DaVanon out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 6, Astros 0. METS 9TH: GRANGER REPLACED WATSON (PITCHING); Matlack grounded out (shortstop to first); Unser grounded out (shortstop to first); Millan singled to left; Kranepool singled to left [Millan to second]; Staub flied to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 6, Astros 0. ASTROS 9TH: Cabell doubled to left; Howard struck out; Gross grounded out (shortstop to first); Cedeno homered [Cabell scored]; Johnson homered; LOCKWOOD REPLACED MATLACK (PITCHING); Rader walked; BOSWELL BATTED FOR HELMS; Boswell singled to center [Rader to second]; CRUZ BATTED FOR DAVANON; KOOSMAN REPLACED LOCKWOOD (PITCHING); Cruz grounded out (second to first); 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 6, Astros 3.

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