The New York Mets (58-78) lost to the Houston Astros (83-53) by a score of 8-6 this afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
Pitching:
Chris Flexen struggled in this one. The young righty allowed seven runs in four innings. He is learning how to pitch in the majors on the fly and will likely need more seasoning in the minors next season.
Chasen Bradford relieved him and threw two scoreless innings. Bradford outside a bad outing against the Reds on Monday, has been very dominant since early August.
Jeurys Familia gave up a run in the seventh as he is still trying to get back to form. Josh Smoker and AJ Ramos combined for a scoreless eighth but the damage had been done early on.
Offense
The bats did their part in this one. The offense has taken a severe hit the last few weeks or so with trades and very serious injuries.
Juan Lagares has been playing center field almost exclusively and showed off that amazing glove in this game. His defense would justify playing time in 2018 if the Mets add offense around him.
Brandon Nimmo raised his OBP to .398 on the season, getting on base four times. All he seems to do is walk and smile. A very healthy combination.
Kevin Plawecki made more hard contact and continued to elevate the ball. He should play everyday for the remainder of the season as Travis d’Arnaud‘s average continues to plummet.
Norichika Aoki went 3-for-4 with two RBI in his second game as a Met, while Jose Reyes collected two hits from the leadoff spot and Dominic Smith went 2-for-5.
Amed Rosario was switched out of the game in the eighth inning. We will keep you up to date on the status of the young shortstop as more news comes in.
On deck:
The Mets return home to play the Philadelphia Phillies for a Labor Day matinee performance tomorrow. Rafael Montero (3-9, 5.12 ERA) takes on Mark Leiter (2-4, 3.88 ERA) with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m.
