Riding a seven-game surge, the Astros embark on a season-high 10-game road-trip with three dates against the Mets.
Tonight at 6:10 PM CT, the Astros open a three-game road-set against the New York Mets.
This series is the only time Houston will play the Mets this season. The expansion cousins used to play a lot more until the Astros switched to the American League. In all-time head-to-head play, Houston leads the series 318-261, a .549 winning percentage that ranks sixth against all teams.
GameTimes and Starting Pitchers
Friday, 6:10 PM CT: Ronel Blanco (8-2, 2.34) vs. Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.58)
Saturday, 3:10 PM CT: Framber Valdez (6-5, 3.68) vs. Tylor Megill (2-4, 4.81)
Sunday, 12:40 PM CT: TBD vs. Luis Severino (5-2, 3.29)
The last time Houston took on the Mets was last season, when the Astros took two-of-three between June 19 and 21. In the series finale, it took seven pitchers to get through nine innings, and Phil Maton (1-2, 1.46 ERA) got the 10-8 victory. Chas McCormick (7) and Yainer Diaz (7) went deep, while Alex Bregman collected three hits and Mauricio Dubón hit a pair of doubles to lead Houston’s offense.
Our guys kept fighting and fighting and plugging away, and it seems like you’re almost afraid to score, because then they were going to score. The guys were saying, ‘Shutdown inning,’ but there wasn’t one really. — Dusty Baker
Houston arrives in the Big Apple on the crest of a seven-game swell. After winning the final two games of a three-game set versus the Chicago White Sox, Houston went on to sweep the Baltimore Orioles in three games and the Colorado Rockies in two. In the final game, a 7-1 Houston win, Spencer Arrighetti (4-6, 5.68) turned in the best pitching performance of his career, striking out 10 against zero walks and tossing seven shutout three-hit innings. Yainer Diaz had three hits, while Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña had two each.
We’ve got to keep going, but the guys have worked really hard to get to this point. — Joe Espada
The Mets are just as hot as Houston these days. They’ve won 15 of their last 19 games, including a two-game sweep of the New York Yankees. In the final game, on Wednesday night, the Mets won a 12-2 decision in supporting Sean Manaea (5-3, 3.89). Harrison Bader (6), Francisco Alvarez (4) and Tyrone Taylor (3) collected home runs.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re down big or we’re up big. Every pitch matters. Every at-bat. — Carlos Mendoza
Standings
Houston Astros: 40-40, .500, second in the AL West, 4.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners. Eighth in the American League three games back in the AL Wildcard race. Tied for 14th in MLB. Last 10: LWLWWWWWWW. On pace for an 81-81 season, FanGraphs projects an 85-77 finish and a 50.6 percent chance at making the playoffs.
New York Mets: 39-39, .500, third in the NL East, 12.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Seventh in the National League, 1.5 games back in the NL Wildcard race. Tied for 14th in MLB. Last 10: WWWWLWLWWW. On pace for an 81-81 season. FanGraphs projects a 83-79 finish and a 43.3 percent chance at reaching the postseason.
Heroes and Zeroes (highest and lowest WPA versus the Rockies)
Spencer Arrighetti (41.7)
Jose Altuve (26.8)
Yainer Díaz (18.9)
Hunter Brown (16.7)
Chas McCormick (8.1)
Mauricio Dubón (-2.9)
Jeremy Peña (-4.2)
Jon Singleton (-5.1)
Seth Martinez (-5.2)
Jake Meyers (-6.2)