Framber Valdez tossed eight shutout innings and Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel and Kyle Tucker homered as the visiting Houston Astros pummeled the New York Mets 9-1 in the opener of a two-game interleague set on Tuesday.
Alvarez had three hits and reached base five times for Houston, which jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Alex Bregman also contributed three of the Astros’ 12 hits.
Valdez (8-3) allowed six hits, walked two and struck out five while throwing 97 pitches to help the Astros win for the sixth time in their past eight games.
New York right fielder Starling Marte had three hits, including two doubles. The Mets scored a run in the ninth against Enoli Paredes before losing for just the third time in their last 16 home games.
New York starter Carlos Carrasco (8-4) encountered trouble from the start, walking Jose Altuve to begin the game.
With one out and runners at the corners, Bregman singled home a run and Tucker followed with a three-run homer to right field. The 419-foot blast was Tucker’s 15th of the season and seventh this month.
The Astros added a run in the fourth on Jake Meyers’ RBI single before drawing clear with four runs in the fifth.
Carrasco departed after Jeremy Pena singled with one out in the fifth and was replaced by Chasen Shreve. Alvarez greeted the left-hander with a two-run homer, and Gurriel capped the rally with a two-run blast.
Carrasco gave up six runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts. His ERA has climbed from 3.96 to 4.85 over his past two starts, both against the Astros.
Houston outscored New York by a combined 13-5 in a two-game home sweep last week and frustrated the Mets again on Tuesday.
Tucker worked a 12-pitch walk against Carrasco in the fourth inning and also matched his career high with his 14th stolen base.
Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil returned after missing the past five games due to right hamstring tightness and went 1-for-3 while batting eighth.
James McCann drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to put New York on the board. The next batter, Ender Inciarte, grounded out to end the game.
–Field Level Media
