King Tuck Reigns on New York. Jose Urquidy and Crew Cruise to 8-2 Win Over Mets

You never know which Jose Urquidy will show up on any given night. That’s probably the way it is with most 5th starters. But tonight good Jose showed up, shutting down the second-best offense in baseball.

Meanwhile, three Astros homers and a three-run double by Kyle Tucker helped the Astros coast against the best team in the NL. (payroll over $260 million)

The Astros took the early lead with three runs in the third inning off Mets starter Trevor Williams. With one out Jose Altuve hit a line drive homer just over the short porch in left field for the Astros’ first run. Later that inning, with one out and Alex Bregman on first, Yordan Alvarez hit another line-drive homer, this one just over the right-field fence to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.

Astros starter Jose Urquidy went 5.1 scoreless innings but had to scrabble his way out of trouble in the fourth inning. After two hits and with one out Yuli Gurriel bobbled a grounder leaving the bases full. Urquidy, not normally a strikeout pitcher, escaped damage by striking out Eduardo Escobar and former Astro J.D. Davis.

In the sixth the Mets finally scratched the scoreboard against Urquidy on a Pete Alonso solo homer, joining 19 other Alonso homer victims this season.

But before the Alonso shot the Astros had already put the game effectively out of reach in the fifth with a four-spot. The main blow was a three-run double by Kyle Tucker, followed by a Mauricio Dubon single scoring Tucker, who had just stolen third.

The Mets did manage another run on an Eduardo Escobar solo homer off Phil Maton in the seventh, but the Astros’ Jose Siri answered with a solo homer of his own in the eighth.

After Alonso’s homer the Astros relievers, Seth Martinez and Bryan Abreu, held the Mets scoreless. It was the 17th straight inning without allowing a run for the Rule 5 pick-up Martinez, who maintains his season ERA of 0.00.

For the game, Jose Urquidy pitched six innings, allowing only one run, four hits, and one walk, while striking out five.

Luis Garcia takes the mound tomorrow in an early game hoping to sweep the Mets in a short series. Game time 1:10 CT

Box score and videos HERE.