The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros by a score of 8-7 on Monday afternoon at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

Pitching:

Noah Syndergaard was electric in his two innings. The righty retired all six Astros he faced and those six guys were George Springer, Josh Reddick, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez, and Brian McCann, far from no-name guys. Of those players, Syndergaard got Altuve and Gonzalez to strikeout.

His velocity in the first inning went as followed: 100 MPH, 100 MPH, 100 MPH, 100 MPH, 90 MPH, 100 MPH, 97 MPH, 91 MPH, 101 MPH, 101 MPH, 92 MPH (courtesy of Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com). I think it is safe to say he’s ready for the 2018 season.

Hansel Robles followed Syndergaard and was not so fortunate. He gave up four runs in his one inning of work. He did get two strikeouts but there was quite a bit of bad to go along with it.

Jamie Callahan relieved him and went two innings but gave up a home run to Max Stassi in his first inning of work. He settled down in his second inning. however.

Jacob Rhame struck out Brian McCann and J.D. Davis in his inning on the hill and also retired Carlos Correa.

Drew Smith pitched the seventh but gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Tucker, one of the best prospects in baseball.

Ed Delany, MMO

Offense:

The offense started out slow against Justin Verlander, as many offenses tend to do against him. The team overcame a four run deficit in the fourth inning.

Zach Borenstein had a RBI double to plate Jose Reyes and Brandon Nimmo followed with a RBI double of his own a couple batters later. Tomas Nido added a two-run double right after Nimmo and sure enough, the Mets tied up the game.

Down 5-4 in the seventh, the new look swing of Gavin Cecchini produced a two-run homer to give the Mets a 6-5 lead. Cecchini added a double in the ninth inning. The swing definitely looks much better than it did one year ago.

In the eighth inning, the younger Mets began a comeback. David Thompson doubled to leadoff the inning and stole third. After Jeremy Vasquez walked, Patrick Biondi tied the game with a RBI single.

On deck:

Steven Matz makes his spring debut against the Astros. Corey Oswalt, Chris Flexen, Corey Taylor, Kevin McGowan, and Marcos Molina are also scheduled according MetsMerizedOnline’s Jacob Resnick.