Astros blast away Niese, Mets 6-3

Jon Niese has been very solid so far this season, but tonight he couldn’t avoid hard contact and the Astros hit a couple of big flies early on that provided all the offense they would need to defeat the Mets tonight.

The Astro assault started right away in the bottom of the first. Jose Altuve led off with an infield single and Jed Lowrie ripped a Niese inside fastball right off the left field foul pole to make the score 2-0. In the second inning, Niese threw a very similar pitch to Houston catcher Chris Snyder, who hit a towering blast down the left field line that stayed fair long enough to count. With outfielders Brian Bogusevic and Justin Maxwell already on board with singles, Snyder’s bomb put three more runs on the board to make the score 5-0.

Although Niese would get through the third inning with no further damage, Terry Collins opted to lift him for pinch hitter Lucas Duda in the fourth, which ended the lefty’s evening. Niese finished with five earned runs, six hits and two walks allowed in just three innings. He only struck out one batter.

Niese might have lasted a little longer if not for a Mets rally in the fourth. Andres Torres and Josh Thole hit back-to-back RBI singles with two outs to cut into the Houston lead. With two men on base and two outs, Collins decided to insert Duda for Niese and try to tie the game right there. However, Duda was struck out by Astros starter J.A. Happ, and the Mets would only get one more run for the rest of the game.

Said Collins after the game, “When you’re in a game where you’re down five and you’ve got a chance to tie it, you’ve got to take your chance.”

In the fifth, the Mets drew within two runs when Scott Hairston singled home Justin Turner with two outs. Unfortunately, Houston would get one back in the next inning. Although Miguel Batista had been pitching well since replacing Niese in the fourth, he allowed Happ to single and Altuve to walk with two outs in the sixth. Ramon Ramirez came in to get the final out, but first he walked Lowrie and J.D. Martinez to walk in a run and make the score 6-3.

Wilton Lopez, Wesley Wright and Brett Myers would shut down the Mets the rest of the way to end the game. The Astros pitched much better than the Mets did tonight. Happ lasted 6.1 innings and struck out seven batters while walking three. The Mets recorded three runs and six hits against the former Phillie.

Meanwhile, Mets pitchers combined to walk eight batters. Niese walked two, Batista walked four, Ramirez walked a pair in his 1.1 innings and Jon Rauch mercifully didn’t walked anyone while pitching a scoreless eighth inning.

Turning Point: The huge Snyder home run gave Houston enough runs to win the game and caused Collins to take Niese out of the game early. The Mets would rally, but never really recovered.

Game Ball: Josh Thole got an RBI single in this one, but more importantly he threw out a couple of basestealers to keep the Astros from ever making the game a blowout. Justin Turner also had a nice game with a double, a walk and a couple of runs scored.

Next Game: The Mets try to dodge the brooms tomorrow afternoon at 2:05 PM. Chris Schwinden will be making his second start of the season after getting shelled in Colorado. Houston ace Wandy Rodriguez will be pitching for the opposition.