Astros drop finale in New York

On a cold windy night at Citi Field the Astros couldn’t get the bats warmed up. New York manager Terry Collins got himself thrown out of the game in the first inning, and that may have sparked the slumping Mets. Astros starter J.A. Happ seemed to be in control, striking out four of the first five hitters he faced. Shortly thereafter Happ allowed a homer to Mike Nickeas (his first in the majors) and served up another gopher ball to David Wright who had been in a 1 for 20 funk. Happ seemed to go to a 3-2 count on every hitter and was unable to complete the fifth inning.

Mets starter Chris Capuano kept the Astros in check with a steady diet of off-speed pitches. Capuano was barely throwing hard enough to break through a paper bag. You know, the kind Mets fans are wearing over their heads these days. Houston trailed 6-1 in the eighth inning when things went from bad to worse. Hunter Pence’s misplay on a popup down the rightfield line allowed Jason Bay to circle the bases making it 8-1. Ike Davis followed with a homerun for a 9-1 final.

Not much to get excited about in this one. The Astros failed to complete the sweep against the lowly Mets and have gone 4-3 over the last seven games against  a couple of teams that were having trouble scoring runs. The Astros now head to Milwaukee for three games before returning home to Minute Maid Park. The next eighteen games are all against division foes. It’s a golden opportunity to climb out of the basement if the Astros can put together a run of consistency.