Well, the Mets can’t win every Opening Day game they play. Despite an excellent franchise record in season-opening games, the 2025 version of the team got off to a slow start, as they were blanked by Framber Valdez for seven innings and lost 3-1 in the end.
That lone run scored on a Francisco Lindor sac fly in the top of the ninth, an inning in which the Mets had Astros closer Josh Hader on the ropes in a big way. But with runners on first and third and two outs, Hader struck out Juan Soto to end the game.
The Mets had another big opportunity to score in the eighth, as Bryan Abreu loaded the bases with two outs on three consecutive walks. But he got Brandon Nimmo to fly out to center on a soft line drive to end that inning.
The team’s experiment to turn Clay Holmes into a starting pitcher got off on the wrong foot, too. In his first start since the handful of starts he made back in 2018 with the Pirates, Holmes went four-and-two-thirds innings, struck out four, walked four, and gave up three runs, two of which were earned. He threw 89 pitches along the way and never really got into a groove on the mound.
The unearned run scored on what should have been an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the third, as Holmes induced a ground ball off the bat of Jeremy Peña. A tailor-made double play if there ever were one, it went directly to Francisco Lindor, who underhanded a toss to Luisangel Acuña for the out at second. Unfortunately, Acuña’s throw to first base was incredibly wild, and Isaac Paredes, who was on second base at the start of the play, scored the Astros’ third run of the afternoon as a result.
Things might have been worse for Holmes and his line if not for some good defense in the bottom of the fourth, though. With runners on first and second with one out—again—Holmes got a ground ball to third base. Mark Vientos fired it to Acuña at second, whose throw to first was better than previous attempt—one that Pete Alonso scooped up very nicely while staying on the bag to end the inning.
If you’re looking for some bright spots from the game, Huascar Brazobán’s first outing of the season was definitely one of them. The 35-year-old went two-and-one-third scoreless innings, keeping the Mets in the game and allowing most of his peers in the bullpen to save their pitches for the remainder of the series.
On top of that, it was just one game, but Pete Alonso took several pitches outside the strike zone today that looked likes pitches he absolutely would have swung at in his relatively down year in 2024.
And last but certainly not least, Acuña worked a long, excellent plate appearance against Hader in the ninth, ultimately drawing a walk to load the bases with nobody out. His teammates didn’t follow up that opportunity with much, but after looking not-so-great at the plate earlier in all of his previous plate appearances, it was a particularly great one in a big spot.
The series resumes tomorrow night at 8:10 PM EDT, and the Mets will be looking to notch their first win of the season with Tylor Megill on the mound.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
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Big Mets winner: none
Big Mets loser: Francisco Lindor, -18.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -9.8% WPA
Mets hitters: -40.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luisangel Acuña walks to load the bases in the ninth, +11.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Hayden Senger strikes out with the bases loaded in the ninth, -10.1% WPA
