Max Scherzer dazzles, Mets have stress-free night in rout of Astros
Max Scherzer of the Mets delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Monday in Houston. Credit: Getty Images/Carmen Mandato
HOUSTON — With the sort of well-rounded, beginning-to-end pitching-and-hitting effort that they expected to be so much more common this season, the Mets achieved their rarest of feats Monday: a low-stress win.
They beat the Astros, 11-1, in the opener of a three-game series between teams that have struggled to live up to expectations.
Max Scherzer cruised through eight innings (one run), his first time pitching that deep since September 2021, when he was with the Dodgers. Francisco Lindor had five RBIs. Every Mets starter except Brandon Nimmo had at least one hit and reached base twice. Brett Baty started a series of standout defensive plays by robbing Alex Bregman of a hit with a diving stop in the first inning.
Altogether, it made for the Mets’ first win over the Astros since 2014 and their first win in Houston since 2011.
More significantly for these Mets, it was their first win by more than five runs since May 25, when they blew out the Cubs.
The Mets (34-38) have won three of their past five games. The defending World Series champion Astros (39-34), who have sunk to third place in the AL West, have lost 10 of 13.
“Everybody did their job,” Scherzer said. “When we all go out there and do our jobs, it’s fun to be able to celebrate that with everybody.”
Manager Buck Showalter said: “The stress is always [present] . . . but Max kept his foot on the pedal.”
Scherzer, who scattered four hits and a walk and struck out eight, was effective and efficient from the start. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the third, when Jeremy Pena grounded a single through the right side of the infield. He didn’t allow a second baserunner until the sixth, when Martin Maldonado and Bregman singled to put two on with two outs. Scherzer then struck out Kyle Tucker on a down-and-in slider.
Scherzer’s slider, the lack of control of which he blamed for his stinker against the Yankees last week, was sharp. He threw that pitch 31 times, inducing seven swing-and-misses (including five in the first two innings). Against the Yankees, he threw it 17 times and got one whiff.
The difference, he said, was a “really stupid and simple” tweak related to his arm path.
“When I can pitch with that pitch, it allows me to use the other pitches well,” he said. “When I can pitch with all my pitches, that’s when I’m at my best and we can go through lineups multiple times through, especially the third time through, and keep the sequences different.”
The greatest source of satisfaction for Scherzer was in providing an outing of such length on a day when the overworked, shorthanded bullpen needed it. Grant Hartwig, in his MLB debut, tossed a scoreless ninth. The other relievers had the game off.
“Those guys have been getting stepped on a lot,” Scherzer said. “It’s our job to go out there and pitch deep. Frankly, I haven’t been doing that the past couple starts, so to go out there and be able to get deep into a ballgame [is good]. We’re a team. Starting pitchers need to do their job so that the relievers can do their job. If we don’t do our job, then they start failing as well. This is a team [game]. It takes a team to be able to win. And that’s what happened tonight.”
The Mets took control with a quick-strike five-run rally in the third, highlighted by homers by former travel-ball teammates Daniel Vogelbach (solo shot) and Lindor (three-run shot). Vogelbach’s was his second in four games; he had two on the season before that.
For righthander Hunter Brown, who has a 3.78 ERA in what has been a solid rookie season, the six runs allowed (in 5 2/3 innings) were a career high.
Francisco Alvarez stayed in the game after taking a foul ball off his right hand in the eighth. X-rays were negative, according to Showalter, but the Mets wanted to wait to see how sore he is Tuesday before deciding if he will play. “That one scared me,” Showalter said. “He’s a tough kid. When he shows you that much discomfort, it worries you.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
