R.A. Dickey pretty much single-handedly beat the Astros today, holding them to one run and driving in two of his own. Mets win 5-1, despite the Astros getting nine hits.
*Still, the Astros were 6-4 on this road trip. Last ten-game road trip? May 9-18, 2008 (at LAD, at SF, at TEX) and they went 7-3.
*The Astros' last winning road-trip (above .500) was from June 12-21, 2009 (at ARI, at TEX, at MIN), when they went 5-4.
*Bud Norris had a rough one, allowing 8H/5ER, 5K:3BB. Norris allowed the same number of earned runs today (five) as he had in his previous three starts (20IP), and busted up a seven-start streak of getting at least 18 outs.
*In 12 of Norris' 21 starts, he has walked 3+ batters. He has made it out of a start without walking a batter just once this season. The Astros are 10-11 in his starts.
*Fernando Abad threw the final four outs, allowing just one hit. Abad has appeared in five games, and has thrown scoreless outings in four of those.
*6-9 in the Mets' order (Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Luis Hernandez, and R.A. Dickey) went 6x14 with 3RBI.
*R.A. Dickey dominated the Astros - again. In G120, Dickey allowed 9H/2ER in 8.1IP. So in two starts against the Astros, Dickey has posted 15.1IP, 15H/3ER, 8K:3BB.
*Again, the Astros got nine hits, but only one run. Tommy Manzella - batting second - was 2x4, as was Geoff Blum and Jason Castro.
*In his last two starts (yesterday and today), Manzella was 5x8 - all singles.
*Jason Michaels was 0x2, but with two walks. Michael Bourn drove in his 30th run of the season, five off his career-high, set last season.
*Pretty incredible stat: The Astros got 86 hits on this road-trip, but only scored 26 runs. That's 3.30 hits/run.
*Pitch Count Hero: Jason Castro (2x4) - 23 pitches in four PAs.
*Pitch Count Punk: Chris Johnson (0x4) - 7 pitches in four PAs.
*Man of the Match: Jason Castro?
*Goat of the Game: Hunter Pence. 0x4, left three on base, ended two innings, and hit into a DP.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
