Lamonte Wade Jr. provided the decisive hit again for the Houston Astros on Sunday, putting together another clutch hit to an interesting 2026 resume.
Called "Late-Inning" Lamonte by his teammates on the Astros roster, Wade Jr. was primed for a big hit after struggling a bit recently as the season enters its final stretch.
Wade Jr. had a dismal .405 OPS over his last 11 game coming into today's game with a .130 average. The lefty has seen his at bats limited to right handed pitching as of late.
With two outs in the sixth and the Astros trailing by one run, Wade Jr. came to bat in a pinch-hitting scenario with one runner on base after Yainer Diaz 's double. He took a high pitch for strike one. Facing off against Mets reliever Jonathan Pintaro , Wade Jr. hammered a 91.3 mph cutter 409 feet off the ribbon board right in front of the second deck at Citi Field. It was his first home run since a July 11 grand slam.
Houston Astros left fielder LaMonte Wade Jr. (31) Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It was Wade Jr.'s ninth plate appearance where he flipped the win probability by more than 10%. That's all come in 118 plate appearances this season with the Astos. What stands out among those nine pivotal times at the plate, is that three of the plate appearances are walks. Wade Jr. has been known to work a walk in his time with the Astros. He has 21 hits and 18 walks .
Wade Jr.'s biggest plate appearance before this one was a two-out bases loaded walk in the ninth inning of a game against the Angels that broke the tie in a game the Astros would eventually win. That hit added 32% to the win probability; his hit today brought the Astros from 31.8% to 62.5% also a 32% added probability added plate appearance.
Ethan Pecko , like Wade Jr., needed a good start to justify his spot on the active roster. It looked as if he was going to get pulled early as the first three hitters reached including two home runs. The Astros even had AJ Blubaugh warming up in the first inning. He settled down and pitched 5.0 innings with three runs, two earned.
Because of Wade Jr.'s home run, Pecko was able to earn his first career win, the 20th different Astro pitcher to be credited with a win in the 2026 season. That number is tied for the third most in Astros history. The Astros set the record last year with 23 different pitchers earning a win. The roster expands by two in a couple of days so we might see another name added to that list as all current Astros pitchers on the active roster have a win.
Putting it all together gave Houston a 4-2 road trip through New York , battling two teams that came in with big expectations this offseason. Wade Jr. proved his spot on the roster with a big blast, one that the Astros hope will spark a late season surge for the team and LaMonte Wade Jr .
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/astros/onsi as How Lamonte Wade Jr. is Delivering for Astros in Clutch Moments .
