Astros 4 Mets 0 (Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX)
Mets record: 34-39
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP - Framber Valdez (7-5)
LP - Justin Verlander (2-4)
SV - Ryan Pressly (13)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
It really couldn't be anyone else tonight, could it? Valdez was incredible
Need to Know
Valdez was brilliant for seven innings, walking one and giving up one hit in those first seven, and retiring the first 16 hitters he faced. He went eight innings total, giving up two runs and striking out nine on the night.
Mark Canha broke up Valdez's perfect game with a single to right in the sixth.
Justin Verlander, in his first start against the Astros since leaving them to sign with the Mets, went seven innings and gave up four runs on eight hits and no walks.
The Mets got the tying run to the plate against Ryan Pressly in the ninth, but Tommy Pham struck out to end the game.
Turning Point
The first two innings of the game looked like Verlander was going to match Valdez zero for zero. But in the third, the Astros started to get to their old freind. Corey Julks doubled, then Martin Maldonado singled to left before Jose Altuve drove in the first run with a sac fly to make it 1-0.
Then Alex Bregman came up and got a 3-0 count against Verlander ...
Bregman had been 0-for-11 lifetime against Verlander before that shot. It gave the Astros a 3-0 lead and they would not relinquish it.
Three Keys
Valdez: Don't let the 8th inning fool you. He was brilliant tonight. If you like pitching, then you'll love a performance like Valdez's as long as it isn't against your favorite team. When every pitch comes from the same release point and moves in different directions, you can do whatever you want on the mound. Valdez's sinker was the primary weapon tonight as the Mets couldn't touch it, but he threw just enough cutters and curves to keep the Mets off balance to make that sinker even more devastating.
Verlander: He didn't have a terrible outing at all, and there are a good amount of nights that it would have been good enough. Just going seven innings was a huge help. But he didn't like the 3-0 fastball that he threw to Bregman, and he didn't like the curve that he threw to Jose Altuve in the 7th to give the Astros their fourth run. He called his game frustrating. I'm sure he feels that to some degree about his season so far.
Defense: Even with all of that going agianst them, the Mets still had a chance to get it all back. After Valdez walked Francisco Lindor with two outs in the 7th, Jeremy Pena robbed Pete Alonso of a hit which would have kept the rally going.
The Astros weren't done there. Valdez was tiring in the 8th and Dusty Baker was trying to squeeze one more inning out of him. Pham singled to lead off the inning, and Francisco Alvarez doubled to put runners on second and third. Jeff McNeil then hit a hard liner that Julks made a nice play on McNeil for the first out. Then a run scored on Canha's sac fly. But it could have been more:
That was followed by an Eduardo Escobar single to bring home a second run, but if not for the efforts of Julks and Tucker, the eighth could have been more fruitful for the Mets.