The Mets' second game in Houston started awfully, did just enough to make it interesting for a while, and ended in disappointing fashion.
For the first time this season, Jon Niese looked pretty bad. He lasted just three innings, surrendering five runs in the process. He was hit hard, too, as two of the six hits he allowed were home runs. As a result, the Mets found themselves down by five at the conclusion of the second inning.
In the fourth inning, the Mets began to mount what looked like a potential comeback. Andres Torres and Josh Thole each hit a two-out, run-scoring single in the inning to cut the Astros' lead to three. Lucas Duda pinch hit for Niese but struck out to end the inning.
Miguel Batista took over on the mound for the Mets and threw a scoreless bottom of the inning, and Scott Hairston stuck with the game plan from the fourth inning, hitting a two-out, run-scoring single of his own. Batista kept the Astros off the board in the bottom of the fifth, too.
Unfortunately, that was it for the Mets' scoring on the evening. Batista and Ramon Ramirez turned the bottom of the sixth into Walkapalooza to give Houston an unnecessary insurance run. With two outs and nobody on base following a double play, Batista allowed a single and a walk before Ramirez walked two consecutive batters to force in the Astros' sixth run of the night.
After that, the only notable part of the game was that Jon Rauch once again threw a scoreless frame without recording any strikeouts.
The Mets will attempt to take one game from the lowly Astros in the series finale tomorrow at 2:05 pm.
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* The Crawfish Boxes Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Miguel Batista, +6.1% WPA
Big losers: Jon Niese, -29.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Scott Hairston's rib-eye single in the fifth, +11.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jed Lowrie's two-run home run in the first, -15.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -27.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: -22.9% WPA
GWRBI!: Chris Snyder