Kodai Senga throws four scoreless, Luis Robert Jr. drives in two as Mets defeat Astros

Kodai Senga continued his very strong spring, and Luis Robert Jr. and Marcus Semien led the way offensively as the Mets  defeated the Houston Astros, 6-2, in West Palm on Thursday night. The Mets are now 12-9 in Grapefruit League play with a week to go before Opening Day.

Here are the takeaways... -Senga wasn't as dominant as his last spring start, but he showed a lot of resiliency, stranding runners and not allowing his lack of pinpoint command to get to him. He allowed a baserunner in his first three innings, including a runner on second with one out, but got Christian Walker to ground out and Yainer Diaz to strike out to get out of the jam in the second inning.

In the fourth, Cam Smith doubled with one out but was stranded when Senga got Zach Cole to pop out and Walker out on strikes. Senga was done after four scoreless innings (63 pitches/41 strikes), allowing three hits, one walk, while striking out four. He's now thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings and has 11 strikeouts in 9.

2 innings pitched. Most encouraging was that he topped out at 97. 3 mph on Thursday and has reached 99 mph this spring.