Mets Come Up Short Against Astros, 3-1, In Series Opener
· Yahoo Sports
The New York Mets got out-pitched by the Houston Astros in the first game of their three-game series as they took a tough 3-1 loss, with Hunter Brown dominating the Mets lineup as starter Christian Scott couldn’t quite keep up.
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Both pitchers put up zeroes for the first three frames, with the Mets scoreing first in the fourth on a single by Francisco Lindor followed by a double from Carson Benge off Hunter Brown.
That made it 1-0, and at that point Scott was cruising. He didn’t have his strikeout stuff going, but he was able to limit Houston to just one hit into the sixth inning. That was when Scott ran out of gas and lost his command as he walked a pair of hitters to give the Astros their opportunity.
They didn’t waste it. The Mets brought on Nate Lavender, who failed for the first time as a Met, allowing a single from Daulton Varsho that brought home two runs, with both charged to Scott. Yainer Diaz singled home another run, and Houston took a 3-1 lead.
Brown had it going for the Astros as he dominated the Mets lineup, and he became the first Houston starter in 14 games to make it through six innings. He lasted into the seventh, with a final line of 6-2/3 innings as he gave up just one run on five hits to go with a walk and ten strikeouts.
Houston got some solid relief work to pick up Brown, as he pitched 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep the Mets from mounting a comeback. The Mets had nothing for Josh Hader in the ninth, as he picked up his 20th save of the season to finish things off.
The Mets struck out 14 times in this one as they flailed away at Astros pitching throughout the game, and the loss harkened back to their offensive struggles earlier in the season. The top four of A.J. Ewing, Lindor, Bo Bichette and Benge combined to go 2-for-16, with only Marcus Semien having a good night offensively as he had a two-hit game.
The game also hurt the Mets in the standings, as they’re now three games behind the Washington Nationals in their efforts to escape from the NL East basement. They made Brown look like a world beater in this one, and they’ll need to do better against Cristian Javier tomorrow afternoon to give Nolan McLean any kind of chance to win.