The Astros arrived off a series win over the Yankees, having taken 2 of 3 in the Bronx, and the price reflected a club with real momentum against a Mets team that had lost 2 straight and was hemorrhaging bullpen depth by the day.
It played out mostly as advertised for Houston. A 3-run 6th inning was the only scoring the Astros needed, and Christian Scott's Mets couldn't answer beyond a single run in the 4th. Both teams were held to modest hit totals — 4 for the Astros, 5 for the Mets — in a game that never threatened to turn into a slugfest.
The injury boards tell a lot of the story here. Houston is still without Carlos Correa, Brice Matthews, Brandon Walter and Mike Burrows, while the Mets shipped Jorge Polanco to the 60-day IL the same day this game was played and are still nursing Mark Vientos, Devin Williams and Cionel Perez back. Neither roster is whole, but the Mets' losses are piling up in more places at once — rotation, bullpen and lineup all touched.
For a Mets team with playoff hopes already thin, dropping the series opener at home extends a stretch that's seen them lose 2 of their last 3. Soto's return can't come soon enough for a lineup that's had to lean on replacement pieces at first base and DH for weeks now.