Takeaways from Friday’s game against the Astros, including the explosive return of Starling Marte and the strong start of Justin Verlander

The Mets beat the Houston Astros, 7-2, Friday afternoon as their spring training schedule continued.

Here are the takeaways…

– Justin Verlander, with his fastball located between 94 and 96 mph, easily got through the Astros’ first five batters before allowing a two-out double in the second inning. He worked around that double with a strikeout of David Hensley on a 96 mph fastball.

In the third inning, Verlander allowed a two-out RBI single for Jacques Meyers after trying to dance around a first double.

Overall, he allowed one run on three hits without walking any and struck out five in 3.1 innings in what was his second start of the spring. The right-hander threw 48 pitches (32 strikes).

– Starling Marte made his first appearance at spring training and came in hot. He rolled a double down the left-field line his first time and undoubtedly smoked a two-run homer to left-center on his second and final at-bat.

– Brett Baty walked a full count in his first plate appearance before hitting twice and stopping at shortstop. Defensively, he was flawless, including a slick sliding play in the sixth inning where he went wide to his left.

– Marc Canha teeed off at first base and went 1 for 3 with a run scored.

– Tommy Pham, who entered the game with just .105 this spring, scored an RBI double on the first base in the second inning. He finished 1 for 3.

Strong points

And after

The Mets also face the St. Louis Cardinals on the road at 6:05 p.m., then the team travels to face the Washington Nationals on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Kodai Senga gets the start for New York on Saturday.