Clay Holmes, Mets fall flat in 3-1 Opening Day loss to Astros

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Mar 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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HOUSTON — It was the most anticipated season opener for the Mets in a decade, and they came out flat.

The Mets’ 3-1 Opening Day loss to the Houston Astros at Daikin Park featured a baserunning blunder, a botched double play and a starting pitcher who was laboring by the fourth inning and was removed with two outs in the fifth.

The Mets are back, baby.

The 2024 team taught us that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and the Mets have plenty of time to live up to the hype. But after only one game, there is plenty to clean up.

In his first start since 2018, Clay Holmes went 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. The right-hander walked four and struck out four, needing 89 pitches to get through his outing.

Holmes (0-1) had the wide-eyed excitement of a little kid on Christmas in the period leading up to Opening Day. But the day before he made his first start since 2018, the tone of the Mets’ right-hander seemed somewhat tempered, with Holmes saying he was taking a short-term view, trying to get through five starts before reassessing.

The candid comments were the first time anyone with the Mets acknowledged that converting a reliever into a starter might not be fail-safe. But then again, nothing is fail-safe in baseball, and one bad start could end up meaning very little in the end.

Left-hander Framber Valdez (1-0) blanked the Mets over seven innings, allowing four hits and walking two. The Mets put two on with one out in the first inning, but Valdez retired Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo to get out of the jam. The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second after Holmes plunked Jeremy Peña with one out. Rookie Cam Smith then singled to right to put two on, and Brendan Rodgers walked to load the bases.

In the third, Jake Meyers hit a ground ball to shortstop Francisco Lindor who tried to turn two, but second baseman Luisangel Acuña couldn’t get the ball out of his glove quick enough to get the out at first. It was a tough play, but Acuña had an easier one in the bottom of the third that he couldn’t make either, resulting in another run.

Holmes walked Isaac Paredes to lead off, then struck out Yordan Alvarez. Christian Walker hit a hard grounder right out of the reach of a diving Mark Vientos at third base to put two on, and Yainer Diaz singled up the middle to score Paredes.

Peña then rolled over on a sweeper and sent it to Lindor, who flipped it to Acuña at second to start what should have been an inning-ending double play. But Acuña sent the ball sailing well past Pete Alonso at first base, allowing Walker to score.

In the top of the fifth, catcher Luis Torrens hit a one-out double to give the Mets their first runner in scoring position since the first inning, but Valdez threw a change-up to Juan Soto with two outs that bounced toward the backstop. Soto signaled to Torrens to advance to third, but he was thrown out easily.

Huascar Brazobán gave the Mets 2 1/3 scoreless innings for a chance to get back into the game, and they nearly did in the top of the eighth when they loaded the bases with two outs. But again, Nimmo came up short, this time against right-hander Bryan Abreu, lining a slider to center field for the easy out. Finally, they pushed one over in the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly to bring up Soto with two outs and runners on the corners.

Soto battled left-hander Josh Hader for five pitches, swinging through a slider on the sixth for strike three. Soto went 1 for 3 with a single, two walks and one big strikeout in his Mets debut.