TLDR: The Mets have been baseball's biggest letdown all summer, but Saturday belonged to them anyway, rolling right through Houston's makeshift pitching plan at Citi Field.
+Interim skipper Andy Green has the club playing better ball
−Carrying a 60-75 record in a fading season
−Lost 3 straight before this game
−Missing Williams, Vientos and the season-ending Polanco
Houston countered with a decidedly unconventional look, using left-hander Bennett Sousa (1-3, 6.52 ERA) as an opener rather than a traditional starter, while the Mets sent out Nolan McLean (9-8, 3.10 ERA), who was coming off 6 shutout innings against the White Sox in his last turn. That mismatch in approach — a bullpen-by-committee plan against an established arm — set the tone for the whole afternoon.
Bennett Sousa
(1-3)·5.55 ERA
2026 · No starts yet
ND
—IP
—ER
—K
—BB
—P
08/29 Lineup
Nolan McLean
(11-9)·3.24 ERA
Aug 23 @ White Sox
ND
6.0IP
0ER
6K
4BB
92P
08/29 Lineup
New York is still without closer Devin Williams, who was reported playing catch again as he works back from a shoulder issue, and the Mets don't get Mark Vientos back either — he's grinding through a rehab assignment after a broken hand, with interim manager Andy Green making clear he won't just hand him his old spot back. Houston, meanwhile, is still waiting on Carlos Correa, who's progressed enough to hit off a tee but remains a ways from activation. None of that stopped the market from making the Mets a solid favorite anyway, banking on the shakiness of Houston's plan.
It's been a rough stretch at Citi Field regardless of one final score. New York came in at 60-75, a stunning letdown for a club that opened the year with the majors' largest payroll and postseason expectations to match, while Houston arrived in the thick of an AL West and Wild Card scrap that's kept its margin for error thin all August.
Houston had won the series opener the night before and carried real momentum into the getaway game, while New York was trying to shake off a rough recent stretch under Green, who's quietly turned in a solid record himself since replacing Carlos Mendoza in June.
The line score bore out the price: Houston's patchwork staff cracked in the 5th, when the Mets broke a scoreless tie open, and again in the 8th, turning a competitive game into a laugher. New York finished with 11 hits to Houston's 4, exactly the kind of lopsided damage a shaky bullpen day invites.
For a Mets team that's spent most of 2026 explaining what went wrong, an afternoon like this — a deep McLean start, a bullpen-day opponent, and a laugher final — is at least a glimpse of what the roster was supposed to look like all along.
Astros 2, Mets 6: Final Score & Odds Recap — Mets Snap Skid, Rough Up Houston's Bullpen Game
