In the second game of a split-squad doubleheader, the New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 7-3 at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

After giving up 21 hits in the afternoon loss to the St. Louis, 15-5, the Mets gave up 12 more in the evening tilt. The game was a close one until the Astros came to bat in the bottom of the sixth where they batted around and plated five runs off of Mets starter Jason Vargas and reliever Edwin Diaz (box score).

Diaz continues to struggle as he allowed four consecutive singles when he entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, allowing three earned runs. He has now given up six runs in his last four appearances and saw his ERA nearly double in his 1/3rd of an inning pitched.

Vargas started for the Mets and gave up four earned runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Overall, it was a fairly strong start against a team that will contend for the AL Pennant this year.

The Mets scored three runs and could have had more as they wasted a lead off triple by Brandon Nimmo in the first. and only scored two in the second in an inning they could have plated more. The Mets sent the tying run to the dish in the top of the ninth, but failed to do any damage as they saw their spring record fall to 10-16-2.

Pitching

Vargas started the game for New York. He had a one -two -three first inning, but in the second, gave up a long home run to Yuli Gurriel to make the score 2-1 Mets.

In the fifth, the Astros scored their second run off of Vargas. After an infield hit by Myles Straw (who had three hits in the game), George Springer doubled him home to cut the Mets lead to 3-2. Interestingly, Springer, the Astros lead-off hitter, was the first batter that Vargas faced for the third time in the game, adding concerns about Vargas’ performance when a he sees a team’s batters for the third time in a game.

The Astros broke the game open in the sixth scoring five runs on five hits. Alex Bregman, who earlier in the day signed a 5-year $100 million dollar extension with Houston, led off the inning with a home run which tied the game at three. Vargas later walked Gurriel with two outs and Met manager Mickey Callaway decided to lift Vargas in favor of Diaz.

The Mets closer proceeded to give up four consecutive two-out hits to Robinson Chirinos, Aledmys Diaz, Myles Straw and Corey Julks. Diaz was charged with three earned runs to see his preseason ERA balloon from 4.50 to 8.53.

Jeurys Familia pitched around some trouble in the seventh inning but allowed no runs.

Justin Wilson pitched the eight inning for the Mets and struck out two Astros while allowing no hits.

Offense

The Mets scored three runs on nine hits against Houston pitching.

In the second inning, J.D. Davis singled and promptly was moved to third as the next batter, Luis Guillorme, doubled. It was Guillorme’s fourth double of the spring. Davis scored on a sacrifice fly by Adeiny Hechavarria to give the Mets the lead. Guillorme scored on a wild pitch by Houston starter Brad Peacock to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Michael Conforto got his 13th RBI of the spring as he scored Dario Pizzano in the top of the fifth on a force out. The Mets loaded the bases on an infield hit by Pizzano, a walk to Nimmo and an infield hit by Juan Lagares. Again, the Mets could have done more damage, but did not hit a ball of the infield in the fifth despite scoring their third and final run.

Dominic Smith had two hits for the Mets and is now hitting .362. Guillorme also had two hits on the evening and is now hitting an impressive .371.

On Deck

The Mets are going to Disney World as they face the Atlanta Braves at Champion Stadium in Orlando in the Disney World Complex. Jacob deGrom takes the ball for New York opposed by Josh Tomlin. Game time is 1:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WCBS-880 AM.