Series 27 (of 52) Preview: New York Mets host Astros

Tonight at 6:10 p.m. CT, the Astros open a three-game road trip against the New York Mets.

This series is the only time Houston will play the Mets this season. The expansion cousins ​​used to play much more frequently until the Astros moved to the American League. In all-time head-to-head comparisons, Houston leads the series 318-261, with a .549 winning percentage, which ranks sixth against all teams.

Playing times and starting pitchers

Friday, 6:10 p.m. CT: Ronel Blanco (8-2, 2.34) vs. Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.58)
Saturday, 3:10 p.m. CT: Framber Valdez (6-5, 3.68) vs. Tylor Megill (2-4, 4.81)
Sunday, 12:40 CT: TBD vs. Luis Severino (5-2, 3.29)

The last time Houston faced the Mets was last season, when the Astros won two of three games between June 19 and 21. In the series finale, seven pitchers needed to go nine innings and Phil Maton (1-2, 1.46 ERA) earned the 10-8 victory. Chas McCormick (7) and Yainer Diaz (7) hit home runs, while Alex Bregman had three hits and Mauricio Dubón hit two doubles to lead Houston’s offense.

Our guys fought and fought and fought through it, and it seems like they were almost afraid to score because then they would score. The guys said “shutdown inning,” but there wasn’t actually one. — Dusty Baker

Houston arrives in the Big Apple on the cusp of a seven-game series. After winning the final two games of a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, Houston swept the Baltimore Orioles in three games and the Colorado Rockies in two games. In the final game, a 7-1 win for Houston, Spencer Arrighetti (4-6, 5.68) delivered the best pitching performance of his career, striking out 10 against zero walks and throwing seven three-hit shutout innings. Yainer Diaz had three hits, while Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña each had two.

We have to move on, but the guys have worked really hard to get to this point. – Joe Espada

The Mets are currently just as good as Houston. They have won 15 of their last 19 games, including a two-game win over the New York Yankees. In the last game on Wednesday night, the Mets beat Sean Manaea (5-3, 3.89) 12-2. Harrison Bader (6), Francisco Alvarez (4) and Tyrone Taylor (3) hit home runs.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re way behind or way ahead. Every pitch counts. Every at-bat counts. — Carlos Mendoza

Table position

Houston Astros: 40-40, .500, second in the AL West, 4.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners. Eighth in the American League, three games back in the AL wild-card race. Tied for 14th in the MLB. Last 10: LWLWWWWWWW. Headed for an 81-81 season, FanGraphs projects an 85-77 record and a 50.6 percent chance of making the playoffs.

New York Mets: 39-39, .500, third in the NL East, 12.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Seventh in the National League, 1.5 games back in the NL wild card race. Tied for 14th in MLB. Last 10: WWWWLWLWWW. Headed for an 81-81 season. FanGraphs projects an 83-79 finish and a 43.3 percent chance of making the postseason.

Heroes and losers (highest and lowest WPA against the Rockies)

Spencer Arrighetti (41.7)
Jose Altuve (26.8)
Yainer Diaz (18.9)
Hunter brown (16.7)
Chas McCormick (8.1)

Mauricio Dubon (-2.9)
Jeremy Peña (-4.2)
Jon Singleton (-5.1)
Seth Martinez (-5.2)
Jake Meyers (-6.2)