HOUSTON — The Mets‘ defense played exceptionally tough behind right-hander Griffin Canning on Saturday night, but the bats couldn’t back him up. After Jose Siri tied the rubber game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth, the Houston Astros came right back in the bottom of the inning to retake the lea d and chase Canning from the game. The margin for error was thin with the way both Canning and Houston right-hander Spencer Arrighetti pitched in the series finale, but even once the Mets got to the bullpen, the bats stayed quiet. The Astros took the game and the series with a 2-1 win at Daikin Park. Three games into the season, a loaded Mets lineup has produced only five runs and were held to only a single hit Saturday, a first-inning double by Juan Soto. Arrighetti tossed six stellar innings. They faced three good starting pitchers in left-hander Framber Valdez, and right-handers Hunter Brown and Arrighetti, but there were still pitches the Mets might want back and swing decisions that could have been different. “Today, [against] Arrighetti, I think we were in between a little bit,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “He left a lot of cutters down the middle that we didn’t attack. And then, you know, he started mixing, and I feel like guys were in between overall today. We didn’t hit that many balls hard today.” The team often goes the way leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor goes, and the shortstop is often prone to slow starts. He’s hitless in 11 at-bats so far with three strikeouts, reaching base once when he was hit by a pitch. However, three games isn’t enough of a sample size to be able to determine whether history is repeating itself. “Got to give credit to Houston, they pitched very well,” Lindor said. “They moved the ball, they located their spots, and so you got to give them credit. From our point of view, for our offense, I would say I’ve got to do a way better job to get on base and to make things happen. And I think once I do that, I think the offense is going to continue to get better. I feel like the guys had quality at bats the whole entire weekend.” A sellout crowd was looking for fireworks and they got them in the bottom of the fifth, when Jeremy Peña lined a 2-1 slider into the Crawford Boxes above the out of town scoreboard in left field. The slider had been Canning’s best pitch to that point, but he left it up just high enough for Peña to swat it down the line. Canning then retired the next three in order. Having spent the entirety of his career until 2025 with the Los Angeles Angels, Canning is no stranger to the Astros. The former Halos hurler didn’t come in with the best record against Houston, and Yordan Alvarez has hit him more often than not. Alvarez was 0-for-2 against Canning coming into the top of the sixth with the game tied 1-1, with one on and two out. Canning threw him another slider, trying to throw it down into the dirt. It didn’t reach the dirt. Alvarez hit it deep to center field for an RBI double to give the Astros back the lead. “I’ve had some tough battles with Yordan, so that’s unfortunate it ended that way,” Canning said. “But yeah, I felt like it was the right pitch there, just didn’t quite execute it. We just trying to bury that slider there, just left it up a little.” Canning (0-1) held the Astros (2-1) to two earned runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four over 5 2/3 innings. It was a start he thinks he can build on, especially with the increased velocity and the results he saw with the slider. “I threw it a lot, they were kind of telling me that they weren’t seeing them very well, so figured I’d lean on it,” Canning said. “Peña wasn’t seeing it very well, and then he kind of got that one. But other than that, felt really good.” In his Mets debut, Siri manufactured a tying run. Siri drew a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth and stole second base, then tagged up on a fly ball to center field by Lindor. Soto hit a one-hopper right to Arrighetti, who checked Siri at third before throwing to first to get the out, but he took a few steps toward first base and Siri decided to break for home anyway, and came in safely to tie the game. Max Kranick made his long-awaited return to the big leagues, coming into the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out. It wasn’t the “soft” spot Mendoza wanted to get Kranick into after three years away from the Major Leagues, but lifelong Mets fan from the Scranton area deftly worked out of the jam. “It was crazy,” Kranick said. “My heart was definitely racing. It feels good to get the jitters out of the way.” The Mets head to Miami for their first NL East series of the season, playing three games against the Marlins starting Monday. ...read more read less