José Dé xIGT, 2023-03-23, HOU@NYM

[Edgy MD]

We blew off accounting on yesterday's Yankee game, and we paid an ignoble price with a bitter loss. Lest we repeat that error, let us enjoy this visit from Houston's finest, expected to be José Quintana's last tune-up before Opening Day.

In celebration of that event, four Josés and one Joey pack the lineups of our two sides.

#	Player	Pos.	#	Player	Pos.
1	José Altuve (R)	2b	1	Brandon Nimmo (L)	lf
2	Yordan Alvarez (L)	dh	2	Jeff McNeil (L)	2b
3	Kyle Tucker (L)	rf	3	Harrison Bader (R)	cf
4	Alex Bregman (R)	3b	4	DJ Stewart (L)	rf
5	José Abreu (R)	1b	5	Ji-Man Choi (L)	1b
6	Chas McCormick (R)	lf	6	Mark Vientos (R)	dh
7	Yainer Diaz (R)	c	7	Omar Narváez (L)	c
8	Jeremy Peña (R)	ss	8	Joey Wendle (L)	ss
9	Jake Meyers (R)	cf	9	José Iglesias (R)	3b
	Cristian Javier (R)	sp		José Quintana (L)	sp

[Edgy MD]

J.D. is "super-excited to be here," and says "the guys are super-excited to have me."

[metirish]

J.D. is "super-excited to be here," and says "the guys are super-excited to have me."

It was low-key excitement

[Edgy MD]

The top of the Astro lineup sure is a grind.

[Edgy MD]

And a three-run homer by Alex Bregman shows just how much of a grind.

It's MVP candidate after MVP candidate.

[MFS62]

I see Quintana has been replaced.
Is he OK?
Later

[Edgy MD]

In spring training, when pitchers reach a certain number of pitches in an inning, they can come out and return the next inning, and that's just what José Quintana will do.

[Edgy MD]

Wilkin Ramos with his back to the wall, faced Yordan Álvarez with the bags juiced. He pretty clearly nicked Álvarez with a pitch, but Álvarez actually tried to plea that he wasn't hit, so badly did he want to get a shot at the minor-leaguer's 3-2 pitch.

[Edgy MD]

Another Bregman homer and it's 8-0.

Punishment for taking yesterday off.

[Edgy MD]

Duplantier now on the mound and the inning continues to be a nightmare.

[Edgy MD]

Hey, Vientos knocks one up the middle for just the second Mets hit, but it puts the heroes on the board!

[MFS62]

Maybe they can rally now that Bader is out of the #3 spot in the order.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Kyle Tucker just homered onto the berm, conking an inattentive fan in the head.

[MFS62]

Now 10-5.
I knew the offense would pick up.
The pitching hasn't.
Later

[MFS62]

My kid, Trey Mclaughlin, has his home run ball working today- he's given up three - his first runs allowed this Spring.
13-5
Later

[Edgy MD]

Mets have three more outs and the rain is making it a real possibility that they don't even get that.

[Edgy MD]

Nope. The Astros finish the job.

Tough first inning from Quintana and it just cascaded from there. Most of the other pitchers are Brooklyn-ish-bound who we won't likely see again in 2024.

Good to see Blevins and Zeile working side-by-side.