HOUSTON  The Mets came to Texas to escape. They had scored all of nine runs in a six-game homestand, had endured the humiliation of watching their top reliever marched in handcuffs into a Queens courthouse and had become irrelevant bystanders in the battle for playoff spots.

But the deteriorating 2010 season is now attached to the Mets like a tin can and will apparently follow them everywhere. No sooner did the Mets gather in their locker room to play the Houston Astros on Monday night than the team announced that Francisco Rodriguez, their highly paid closer, had torn a ligament in his right thumb, apparently during a violent altercation with the father of his common-law wife last Wednesday night.

The incident led to misdemeanor assault charges against Rodriguez, a ton of bad publicity for the Mets and an agreement by Rodriguez to participate in anger-management counseling.

As it turns out, it has also led to the near certainty that Rodriguez will have surgery for the torn ligament  which is on his pitching hand  and that he will be out for the remainder of the season. The Mets, in turn, will now determine whether they have any chance of voiding the remainder of Rodriguez’s contract, which runs through 2011, with an option for 2012.