HOUSTON — On so many nights during this mediocre season, after the Mets have gotten shut out or at least shut down, they have turned to a familiar refrain, a verbal crutch that sounds good enough when they don’t actually have any answers for what went wrong.
One must tip his cap to the pitcher. When the pitcher executes and doesn’t make mistakes, it is difficult for hitters to do anything. That guy is getting paid too.
On Tuesday, in a 4-2 loss to the Astros, all of the above was intensely true.
Righthander Framber Valdez, Houston’s in-house ace replacement for Justin Verlander, outdueled his predecessor with a gem: eight innings, two runs, four hits, one walk, nine strikeouts. He lasted into the sixth before allowing a baserunner.
Verlander was only OK, lasting seven innings and yielding four runs and eight hits. He struck out five and walked none.
The Mets (34-39) will wake up on Wednesday, the first day of summer, 13 games back in the NL East — their largest division deficit on this date since 2003.
Facing the Astros for the first time since leaving them to sign with the Mets in December, Verlander was largely effective except for a three-run blip in the third inning.
Corey Julks led off with a double down the rightfield line, advanced to third on Martin Maldonado’s single past a diving Francisco Lindor and scored easily on Jose Altuve’s sacrifice fly to center.
Then Alex Bregman came through with the big blow, a two-run home run. Verlander gave him a middle-middle fastball and he pulled it over the leftfield wall.
The Astros (40-34) tacked on a run in the seventh on Jose Altuve’s two-out single.
The Mets, meanwhile, totaled five baserunners against Valdez (2.27 ERA).
Valdez’s bid for a perfect game ended with one out in the sixth inning, when Mark Canha singled on a line drive looped to rightfield. The next batter, Eduardo Escobar, grounded into an inning-ending double play, keeping Valdez’s batters-faced total at the minimum.
With two outs in the seventh, Francisco Lindor walked when Valdez pitched to him carefully (after his previous at-bats came the closest to doing any damage, with a flyout to the rightfield wall in the first inning and a lineout to centerfield in the fourth). But that inning, too, ended immediately thereafter, with shortstop Jeremy Pena fielding Pete Alonso’s ground ball and firing a throw to first base from the edge of the leftfield grass.
Tommy Pham (single) and Francisco Alvarez (double) reached base to open the eighth and later scored. But Brandon Nimmo, representing the potential tying run, popped out to end the frame.
