Astros rally to beat the Mets, end win streak

The Mets played the Astros today, in a game that turned out to be a terrific pitcher's duel. Aaron Heilman matched Iriki's Wednesday performance with 3 innings of 1 run ball of his own. Heilman and Iriki are both vying for the 5th slot in the rotation, however a dark horse could be Brian Bannister. Bannister pitched an impressive 3 shutout innings, striking out 3 batters, and allowing only 1 hit, outdoing performances by every fifth starter hopeful. Darren Oliver also pitched 2 innings of 1 run ball, but all 3 performances were spoiled by the Astros 3-2 victory. Sidewinder Steve Schmoll sufered the loss allowing 3 hits and 1 run in only 1/3 inning of work. Despite the good Mets pitching the Met hitters weren't much to write home about. Paul LoDuca had 2 hits, and was the only Met who had a multi-hit game. Kazuo Matsui went 1-4, and Xavier Nady countered Victor Diaz's 1-4 from Wednesday with a 1-3 and a run scored on Thursday.