David J. Phillip/AP
R.A. Dickey carries a no-hitter into the sixth, but loses it - and the game - in Houston.
HOUSTON â€" The Mets spent the weekend showcasing their ability to counterpunch. They took a blows only to strike back quickly en route to a pair of wins. They were still at it Monday night in the late innings but couldn’t find a way to respond to the Houston Astros’ last shot.
After Houston went ahead by a run in the eighth on Jed Lowrie’s run-scoring single off the glove of Manny Acosta, the Mets found no success against Astros closer Brett Myers and fell, 4-3, before 17,536 at Minute Maid Park.
Acosta, hammered for seven runs in one-third of an inning Friday, pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Jordan Schafer led off the eighth with a single off Acosta, stole second and scored on Lowrie’s hit.
The Mets seemed in a spot after the Astros broke up R.A. Dickey’s no-hit bid and tallied three runs in the sixth for a 3-0 lead. Then Kirk Nieuwenhuis rewarded the faith Terry Collins showed in him earlier in the day by delivering a huge two-run single that tied the game 3-3 in the seventh.
Nieuwenhuis took over as center fielder in the second game of the season after starter Andres Torres strained his left calf on Opening Day and was hitting .316 entering play yesterday when the Mets activated Torres from the disabled list.
Collins left Nieuwenhuis in the leadoff spot, not wanting to break up a top of the batting order that had led the Mets to 48 hits in the previous three games in Colorado.
David Wright and Ike Davis led off the seventh with back-to-back singles and each moved up on Mike Baxter’s long fly-out to right. Torres got the Mets on the board with an infield single to the right side. Lucas Duda, sitting because of a virus, pinch-hit and drew a two-out walk to load the bases.
Next Nieuwenhuis laced the single to right to tie the game, his second hit of the night.
Dickey looked like he might exorcise his demons on the mound at Minute Maid Park as he sailed through five no-hit innings. The high point on the baseball diamond brought R.A. Dickey to the low point of his 2011 season: a 45-pitch, four-run first inning, a total of six runs allowed in five innings and a record of 1-5 after the loss.
The sixth inning saw a brilliant beginning become a mediocre pitching line, beginning with Jordan Schafer breaking up the no-hitter with a single to shallow left field. After Jose Altuve sacrificed him to second, Jed Lowrie’s flare to left fell in before the on-rushing Niewenhuis. Travis Buck’s broken-bat, right-side ground ball was too tough to turn into a double play and the force out scored the game’s first run. Matt Downs followed with a two-run blast to left for a 3-0 lead.
Dickey’s great start began with him retiring the first three Astros on just seven pitches. The warm, humid conditions seemed to help the righthander’s knuckleball dance. In the fifth inning Dickey retired the side in order â€" getting two strikeouts â€" on only eight pitches.
The Mets, however, were doing very little with Houston starter Bud Norris, who carried a 5.84 ERA into the contest. Norris, too, was dealing. He had allowed only two hits and no runs, also fanning six. In the first he got called third strikes on Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Ruben Tejada, showing he was up for a pitcher’s duel.
The Mets got their first real shot at a rally in the sixth when Nieuwenhuis had a leadoff single to right, but he was picked off.
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