The Mets struggled in multiple facets again in their loss to the Astros 6-3. Despite a decent outing from Zac Thornton, the Mets’ bullpen could not hang on to the fragile lead they were given, and the offense had no response.
On his third pitch in the first inning, Thornton gave up a lead-off home run to Jeremy Peña. After striking out the next two hitters, Thornton allowed a single to Jose Altuve on a line drive into center field, but recovered when Christian Walker grounded into a force out for the third out.
The Mets punched back quickly against Astros’ rookie pitcher Ethan Pecko. Francisco Lindor led off with a home run on a full count, and Juan Soto followed with another dinger on the first pitch he saw. With no outs recorded, Bo Bichette smacked a ground ball into right field for a single. Unfortunately, the next three Mets batters went down in order to set the tone for the rest of the game. Nevertheless, after the first inning, the score was Mets 2, Astros 1.
With one out in the top of the second inning, Thornton hit Yainer Diaz with a pitch. After another out, Nick Allen bunted so softly that it took a minute for Marcus Semien to get to the ball and throw to first. By the time he did, Allen was safe, as was Diaz at second. Peña followed with an RBI single into center field that scored Diaz and moved Allen to third base. Fortunately, Yordan Alvarez flied out to mitigate the damage with the game tied. The Mets had no answers in the bottom of the inning, and the score remained 2-2.
Despite allowing a single to Walker at the top of the third, Thornton kept the Astros’ hitters from scoring again. At the top of the fourth, the Astros’ hitters continued to drive up Thornton’s pitch count, and with two outs, Allen drove a double into the left-field corner. Peña came to the plate next, but fortunately this time he grounded out to Lindor at short. Thornton worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning, which was his last.
The Mets’ offense was quiet for several innings until A.J. Ewing walked in the bottom of the fifth. He stole second base, and when Diaz’s throw bounced past Peña, Ewing advanced to third as well. Marcus Semien walked to bring up Luis Torrens. Torrens grounded into a double play for the first two outs, but Ewing scored. Francisco Lindor grounded out to end the fifth inning, but the Mets were ahead 3-2.
Jonathan Pintaro replaced Thornton at the top of the sixth inning. After allowing a two-out double to right field from Diaz, Pintaro gave up a 2-run home run to pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr, also in right field. Allen looped a single into center field after the homer to keep the rally going briefly, until Peña struck out to end the half. At the bottom of the sixth, Bichette smacked a double into center field for the Mets’ first hit since the first inning. However, the Mets’ lineup could not find any other momentum, and the inning ended with an Astros’ lead, 4-3.
At the top of the seventh, Jefry Yan came in to pitch. After the first out, he issued a four-pitch walk to Isaac Paredes, then allowed a single to Altuve by deflecting a comebacker off his glove. Yan followed this up by hitting Walker with a pitch to load the bases. Daulton Varsho grounded out to first base, but Paredes scored on the play. Jared Young’s subsequent throw to home was very wide, allowing Altuve and Walker to score as well. Diaz struck out for the third out, but the score was now Astros 6, Mets 3.
Austin Warren replaced Yan at the top of the eighth and retired the batters in order. With one out, Soto and Bichette both walked at the bottom of the eighth. The Astros opted to swap Bryan Abreu for Steven Okert, a lefty, on the mound at this point. The gambit worked when Okert retired Carson Benge to strand the runners and end the eighth-inning threat.
Chris Devenski pitched the ninth inning for the Mets and worked a 1-2-3 inning as well against his former team. After a delay to work on the mound, Josh Hader retired the first two batters he saw. Ewing doubled on a line drive to center field, but Semien flied out to end the game with an Astros win, 6-3.
The Mets travel to St. Petersburg to start a new series against the Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow. Robert Stock will face Ian Seymour, and first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM.
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What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Bo Bichette, 12% WPA
Big Mets loser: Jonathan Pintaro, -28% WPA
Mets pitchers: -38% WPA
Mets hitters: -12% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor’s home run, +10.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: LaMonte Wade Jr 2-run home run, -31.8% WPA
