Mets, Carlos Carrasco pounded in another loss to elite Astros

Carlos Carrasco believes he had leadoff batter Jose Altuve struck out on a check swing to start Tuesday’s game, but the veteran righty still came unglued thereafter as his June swoon continued for the Mets.

Carrasco went on to allow a four-spot in the first inning and six runs overall in a 9-1 blowout loss to the still-New-York-based Astros at Citi Field.

Kyle Tucker ripped a three-run homer off Carrasco in the opening frame for the Astros, who were playing their seventh of nine straight games against the Mets and the Yankees, including a four-game weekend split in The Bronx.

“For me it was a little bit disappointing, but in the first inning, the umpire made the wrong call right there,” Carrasco said of first-base umpire Chris Segal signaling that Altuve didn’t swing on the 3-2 pitch to draw a leadoff walk. “That changed the ballgame completely right there. … It should have been a different game.”

The 35-year-old Carrasco had departed his previous start, also against the Astros last Wednesday in Houston, in the third inning with lower-back tightness. But he said following Tuesday’s game that “everything feels good” and noted that his velocity was “back up” from his previous outing.

Still, Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel added two-run shots off lefty reliever Chasen Shreve for a 9-0 game in the fifth, boosting Carrasco’s final run total to six over 4 ¹/₃ innings. The veteran righty had posted a 3.19 ERA over his first six starts this season, but that figure has skyrocketed to 6.20 over his past nine outings beginning May 15.

“It’s unfortunate, but he probably should’ve been out of the first inning. But didn’t get a call, and things kind of [snowballed],” manager Buck Showalter said. “But we just didn’t score any runs, and it makes it look a lot different.”

With Max Scherzer’s second minor league rehab start pushed back one day to Wednesday night for Double-A Binghamton in Hartford, the Mets will start Taijuan Walker against Astros ace Justin Verlander (9-3, 2.22 ERA) earlier in the day in the conclusion of a two-game set.

Combined with Atlanta’s 5-3 win in Philadelphia, the Mets’ lead over the second-place Braves in the NL East is down to four games.

Houston lefty Framber Valdez held the Mets scoreless on six hits over eight innings to improve to 8-3. Jeff McNeil went 1-for-3 in his first start since last Monday’s game against the Marlins due to tightness in his right hamstring.

“I’m feeling stronger, and I’m glad to be back,” McNeil said before the game. “I know when I’m hurt and what I can play through. This is something that’s very minor and I easily can keep going.”

Carrasco’s recent skid certainly kept going from the start, spotting Houston four runs through the first five batters he faced. Alex Bregman’s RBI single preceded Tucker’s three-run blast to left-center, his 15th of the season.

The Mets (47-28) had early chances to get back into the game, but after mustering one hit in 13 chances with runners in scoring position in Sunday’s loss in Miami, they went 0-for-5 in those situations (1-for-9 overall) over the first four innings against Valdez.

Still trailing 4-0, the Mets loaded the bases in the fourth, but Mark Canha bounced into a force play for the final out of the inning.

Shreve relieved Carrasco (8-4, 4.85 overall) following a one-out single by Jeremy Pena in the fifth, and the lefty promptly was tagged for a two-run homer by Alvarez, his 23rd of the year. Three batters later, Gurriel ripped his sixth of the year over the wall in left-center for a nine-run cushion for the Astros, who will return home to face the Yankees in a one-game makeup on Thursday.

The Mets scored their lone run against Enoli Paredes in the ninth on James McCann’s bases-loaded walk.

“There wasn’t much margin for error with the way they were pitching,” Showalter said. “There were enough opportunities to make [the umpiring call] not matter. Obviously, it was a swing, but those things come and go all season long.

“There’s always situations in the game that you can do things to make that [play] not matter. We had some opportunities early on to get back into it. But we didn’t.”