The Houston Astros spent Saturday trying to piece together nine innings from a pitching staff that has given them few dependable options. The plan lasted exactly as long as it took Bennett Sousa to record two outs.
Sousa, making his first start of the season, inherited a 1-0 lead after Jeremy Peña opened the game with a double and Yordan Alvarez brought him home with a sacrifice fly. But the left-hander walked Francisco Lindor, balked him to second, walked Carson Benge, and allowed an RBI single to Jared Young that tied the game. Cristian Javier entered to record the final out of the first.
Sousa finished with one hit, one run, and two walks allowed in two-thirds of an inning, raising his ERA to 6.52. It was hardly the start Houston wanted from its opener, but it also wasn’t what ultimately cost the Astros the game.
Javier kept the Mets quiet for the next three innings before New York broke through in the fifth. Lindor doubled with one out and scored on Juan Soto’s single. Benge followed with another single before Young drove both runners home with a two-run triple, stretching the Mets’ lead to 4-1.
Javier’s final line—4⅓ innings, six hits, three runs, no walks, and four strikeouts—was respectable enough for a bulk appearance, but not enough on an afternoon when Houston’s offense gave its pitchers almost no room to work.
Nolan McLean Silences the Astros
After scoring in the first, the Astros did virtually nothing against Mets starter Nolan McLean.
McLean allowed only two hits over seven innings, walked three, and struck out four. Houston went hitless from the second through the fifth before Alvarez singled with one out in the sixth, and the Astros failed to advance him any farther. McLean left after seven innings having allowed one unearned run, improving to 10-8 and lowering his ERA to 3.06.
Houston’s best opportunity to create something came in the seventh, when Daulton Varsho led off with a walk. Christian Walker forced him at second before Taylor Trammell and Nick Allen struck out to end the inning.
Yordan Alvarez Keeps Hitting
The Astros finally broke through again in the eighth, although by then they were running out of time. After LaMonte Wade Jr. and Peña struck out against Daniel Duarte, Alvarez drove a solo home run to right-center field to cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2.
It was Alvarez’s 37th home run of the season, and he finished 2-for-3 with both of Houston’s RBI. His average climbed to .320 and his OPS to 1.048 as his pursuit of the American League Triple Crown continued.
Unfortunately for Houston, Alvarez accounted for half of the Astros’ four hits.
The Mets quickly erased any hope that his eighth-inning homer might start a comeback. Kai-Wei Teng entered for the bottom of the inning and allowed consecutive singles to Young and Marcus Semien. After A.J. Ewing moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt, Francisco Alvarez delivered a two-out, two-run double that pushed New York’s lead to 6-2.
The Rotation Problem Isn’t Going Away
One day after Hunter Brown gave the Astros 6⅔ innings and their bullpen a badly needed break, Houston was right back to assembling a game from multiple pitchers.
Sousa lasted two-thirds of an inning. Javier supplied 4⅓ innings behind him. Enyel De Los Santos gave Houston two scoreless innings before Teng handled the eighth, allowing two runs.
Houston’s pitching staff wasn’t sharp, but the offense gave it almost no margin for error, producing four hits, scoring twice, and going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
Saturday also reinforced the question hanging over Houston’s rotation. The Astros had Javier and Tatsuya Imai rested, yet chose to open with Sousa before turning to Javier anyway. The strategy changed the order in which Houston used its pitchers; it did not eliminate the need for one of its struggling starters to provide length.
The result dropped Houston back to .500 at 68-68, but the Astros didn’t lose any ground in the AL West. Texas lost to Milwaukee later Saturday, while Seattle also lost, leaving Houston two games ahead of the Rangers and four ahead of the Mariners.
Houston and New York finish the series Sunday at 2:10 p.m. CT at Citi Field. Ethan Pecko will start for the Astros against Mets left-hander Zac Thornton (3-4, 2.88 ERA). The game will air nationally on NBC and Peacock.
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