Though the Mets struck first in this game, they ultimately fell to the Astros 3-1, as Hunter Brown out-dueled Christian Scott, who was let down by the usually solid Nate Lavender in the sixth.
Technical difficulties with both television broadcasts due to a power outage in the truck meant that just like everybody else, I did not see the first four outs of this game, but both teams went quietly in the first inning. This repeated itself in the second inning; Christian Scott induced three ground ball
outs in the top of the frame and Francisco Lindor made a very nice play to his right on one of them. Hunter Brown struck out six Mets in the first three innings, while Scott still had no strikeouts through four, but was still efficient.
The Mets finally managed to break through against Hunter Brown in the bottom of the fourth. Francisco Lindor led things off with a single. Bo Bichette was then retired on a fly out, but Carson Benge then doubled off the center field wall and Lindor scored on an aggressive send by Tim Leiper. Luckily for the Mets, the relay throw was off line to an almost absurd degree and Lindor scored easily, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Brown avoided further damage in the inning and then wriggled his way out of a jam in the fifth when Marcus Semien hit a leadoff single and Luis Torrens advanced him to third with one out. This was another situation where the Astros had a chance to nab a Met on the base paths with an accurate throw, but again the throw—this time by Daulton Varsho from center—was comically inaccurate. But Brown rendered this irrelevant by getting A.J. Ewing, who continues to struggle mightily at the plate, to ground into a double play, as his month without any runs batted in continued.
The sixth turned out to be the decisive frame for the Astros. Scott, who had been cruising, struck out Jeremy Peña to lead off the inning, but then issued three straight walks, the third of which to Jose Altuve on nine pitches. That ended Scott’s evening just shy of 100 pitches and Andy Green turned to Nate Lavender to navigate out of the bases loaded jam. Unfortunately, Lavender—who had been so steady since being called up—cracked this time. Daulton Varsho muscled a low pitch into right field for a single to give the Astros a 2-1 lead. Yanier Diaz followed with a single of his own off the end of the bat to plate the third run of the inning. All three runs were charged to Scott, but they ended Lavender’s spotless record with inherited runners.
Jonathan Pintaro pitched a scoreless seventh for the Mets, thanks in part to an excellent stab by Bo Bichette on an Isaac Paredes hot shot to third, which Bichette was able to convert into an inning ending double play. In the bottom of the frame, Marcus Semien laced a single with two outs, which finally ended Hunter Brown’s night. Brown did what other Astros pitchers have mostly been unable to do this season: go deep into the ballgame. He made way for Bryan Abreu, who allowed Semien to advance into scoring position on a wild pitch, but he bounced back to strike out Brett Baty to end the threat.
Both Dedniel Núñez and Kodai Senga kept the Mets within striking distance with dominant innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively, each notching a pair of strikeouts. But the Mets were retired in order in the eighth by Abreu and in the ninth by Josh Hader, who earned his 20th save of the season.
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Win Probability Added
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What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Christian Scott, +12% WPA
Big Mets loser: Nate Lavender, -26% WPA
Mets pitchers: -6% WPA
Mets hitters: -44% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Carson Benge’s RBI double in the fourth, +14.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Daulton Varsho’s go-ahead RBI single in the sixth, -24.4% WPA
