FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Kaz Matsui turned the jeers into cheers.

Booed during pregame introductions, Matsui delivered the go-ahead RBI single in a five-run eighth inning rally to lead the New York Mets to an 8-4 victory over the Houston Astros in their home opener.

The win was the second in a row for the Mets, who started the season with five straight losses.

"Yes I heard the boos, but they didn't really bother me," Matsui said through an interpreter. "We had a big crowd and they really cheered me on at the end."

It was not a memorable return for reliever John Franco , who signed with Houston after spending the previous 15 years of his career with the Mets and yielded a two-run single to Cliff Floyd in the eighth-inning uprising.

The game was delayed for 14 minutes in the sixth inning due to a malfunction with the center field batter's eye, which switches to advertisements between innings and got stuck with an image of New York Mets righthander Pedro Martinez on the screen. But the Mets ultimately prevailed with some aggressive baserunning and some shoddy Houston defense.

Russ Springer (0-1) relieved in the bottom of the eighth inning and yielded one-out singles to Victor Diaz and pinch hitter Marlon Anderson . Jose Reyes then hit a comebacker, but Springer fired to second in an attempt at an inning-ending double play, and Reyes easily beat the relay throw to first as Diaz scored the tying run.

Reyes again turned on the speed, stealing second base, and raced home when Matsui lined a clutch single to center. Earlier, Matsui capped a three-run sixth inning with an RBI single on a drag bunt.

"That's how we're going to play all season," Reyes said. "We're going to play hard and put the pressure on the other team."

After Matsui's second RBI, former Astro Carlos Beltran was walked and Ramon Castro , who had replaced catcher Mike Piazza , hit a bloop to right field. It should have been the last out of the inning, but second baseman Craig Biggio knocked the ball out of right fielder Jason Lane 's glove, allowing Matsui to score.

"We had a chance to win, but we were very charitable out there," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "We should have been out of that inning."

Floyd followed with his two-run single off Franco, increasing the lead to 8-4.

"I miss Johnny," Floyd said. "He means a lot to this game."

Ramon Hernandez (1-0) pitched a hitless inning for the win and Braden Looper , who was also booed during pregame introductions, retired all three batters he faced in the ninth.

"Were they booing? I thought they were saying Loo (as in Looper)," Looper joked.

The Astros scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Reliever Manny Aybar allowed a run-scoring triple to Lane before pinch hitter Jose Vizcaino greeted Dae-Sung Koo with an RBI double

Lefthanders Tom Glavine and Andy Pettitte were engaged in a pitcher's duel for nearly six innings. Glavine allowed a run-scoring double to Morgan Ensberg in the first inning and shut down the Astros over the next five innings, but the bullpen squandered a 3-1 lead for him.

Pettitte pitched five scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the sixth.

"It was a frustrating game," Pettitte said. "They didn't seem to have a hard-hit ball all inning."

Floyd opened with a broken-bat single to center and David Wright followed with a single. Doug Mientkiewicz sacrificed the runners over and Diaz lofted a soft RBI single that fell in front of Lane, who got a late jump in right field.

Pinch hitter Miguel Cairo blooped an RBI single over the head of shortstop Adam Everett to give the Mets a 2-1 lead and chase Pettitte in favor of Dan Wheeler . Diaz and Cairo engineered a double steal one out later before Matsui drove in the third run of the inning with a drag bunt.

The loss snapped Houston's four-game winning streak.