Game #23: Astros 4, Mets 3

R.A. Dickey carries a no-hitter into the sixth, but loses it in Houston. (NYDailyNews.com)

Back in 1962, the expansion Houston Colt .45's finished with 96 losses; awful, yes, but still better than the expansion New York Mets, who lost (if you're reading this blog you know). Houston was better than New York that year, and tonight, the Astros channeled that slightly-less-mediocre "winning" attitude.

The Amazin's came back to tie it in the 7th, but the Astros went ahead for good and held on to beat the Mets, 4-3.

The Bad Stuff:

• R.A. Dickey wasn't awful and even took a no-hitter into the 6th, but after allowing 3 runs on 3 hits in 6 innings, by his 15/16 QS standards, this qualifies as "bad."
• The Mets' 7th counterbalanced Dickey's rough 6th, but Manny Acosta couldn't get out of the 8th, allowing Jordan Schafer a single, then after he stole second, served up the game-winning base hit to Jed Lowrie.
• Aside from their 3 runs on 4 hits in the 7th, the Mets couldn't get the ball rolling on offense, falling victim to an effective Bud Norris and a solid Houston bullpen. New York went just 2-7 with RISP and left 6 men on base.

The Good Stuff:

•  That 7th inning though, that was a good one.
• David Wright led off with a single and Ike Davis followed with one of his own (Ike went 2-4 on the day, bringing his average up to .185).
• After Mike Baxter flew out and advanced the runners, fresh-off-the-DL Andres Torres picked up his first hit of the year, an infield single that scored Wright.
• Josh Thole grounded Torres over to second, and a flu-ridden Lucas Duda came up to stare down Norris and gain a full count walk.
• Up came Kirk Nieuwenhuis, displaced in the field but still in the leadoff slot. It continued to pay off today: Captain Kirk lined a 2-2 slider into right that scored Davis and the speedy Torres, brought the Mets back to a tie, and got R.A. Dickey off the hook for the L. Nieuwenhuis finished the day 2-4 and improved his batting average to a very attractive .325.

Final Anallysis:
This is a strange feeling for a Mets fan. So often when the team loses, it's either a blowout, devastating, or a devastating blowout. Tonight was neither: sure it was close, but it just felt like your everyday everyone-loses-a-few-in-baseball losses. It doesn't warrant a sob of anguish, but a shrug of the shoulders and a "meh."

Tonight, the Mets lost only their 2nd 1-run game in 8 chances. As cliched as it is to say, the only way to really analyze tonight's loss is to say, "Too bad, we'll get 'em next time." And for this team, I guess that's a good sign.

MM