Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The Mets played the first game of a split-squad doubleheader—their last of the spring—on Friday afternoon against the Astros. Justin Verlander took the mound against his former team for his second start of the spring while Shawn Dubin got the start for Houston.

Also of note for the Mets was Starling Marte making his spring debut. In his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, he hit a hard line drive down the left field line for a double but was left stranded on a Daniel Vogelbach strikeout.

In the bottom of the second, Dubin found himself in trouble as the Mets reached base in four straight at-bats to start the inning. After a leadoff Mark Canha single and a Brett Baty walk, Tommy Pham slapped a double down the right field line to score Canha. In the next at-bat, DJ Stewart hit a blooper into center field to score both Baty and Pham, giving the Mets an early 3-0 lead. Dubin escaped further trouble by producing two ground balls, one for a fielder’s choice and one for a double play to end the inning.

In the top of the third, Verlander was almost able to work around a leadoff Dixon Machado double but a two-out, two-strike single up the middle by Jake Meyers drove Machado in, making it a 3-1 game. Verlander struck out Chas McCormick in the next at-bat, giving him five through three innings.

Luis Guillorme led off the bottom of the inning with a single through the right side of the infield before Starling Marte hit a powerful home run to left-center field. The next three Met batters went down 1-2-3, but Marte’s first home run and second extra-base hit in just two spring plate appearances gave the Mets a 5-1 lead after three innings.

Verlander came back on for the top of the fourth inning but after just one pitch, a ground ball to third base, he was taken out of the game. Through 3 1/3 innings, he gave up just one run and striking out five while walking none. Jimmy Yacabonis relieved Verlander, recording the final two outs, including a strikeout of José Abreu.

The Mets’ scoring continued in the bottom of the fourth. In three consecutive at-bats, DJ Stewart drew a walk, Tomás Nido launched a long single, and Danny Mendick hit a bloop single that scored Stewart from second base, bringing the Mets’ lead to 6-1.

Sam Coonrod and Tommy Hunter both continued their already impressive spring performances with easy innings in the fifth and sixth respectively. Coonrod reached 99 mph with his fastball and struck out a batter, while Hunter struck out Alex Bregman and Abreu in back-to-back at-bats. The other out in his inning came on a smooth play at third base from Brett Baty who slid to a ground ball to his left before relaying the ball across the infield.

The Astros recorded their second run of the game in the top of the seventh off of Jeff Brigham. Korey Lee led off the inning and was hit by a pitch, stealing second base during the next at-bat. After advancing to third on a fielder’s choice, Lee was driven in by a Marty Costes opposite field single to make it 6-2.

The final run of the game came with most of the regulars having been substituted out. In the bottom of the eighth, Wyatt Young led off the inning with a single before advancing to third base on two fielder’s choices. Then with two outs, Young was able to score on a wild pitch which brought the Mets lead back up to five. With the Astros unable to muster up a comeback in the top of the ninth, the Mets clinched the victory by a score of 7-2.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Player of the Game

Starling Marte earns player of the game honors in his first game of the spring. He recorded just two at-bats, his first two of the spring, but he made the most of them by going 2-2 with a home run, double, and two RBIs despite acknowledging after the game that he’s still not 100%. Marte is still recovering from having core muscle surgery in November, but regardless, he looked really good in his spring debut.

On Deck

The second game of the split-squad doubleheader will start tonight at 6:05 p.m. Elieser Hernández and the Mets will go up against Jordan Montgomery and the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter. The game will be broadcast on MLB TV via the Cardinals.