Mets 6, Astros 1 (6)

Jacob deGrom pitched two scoreless innings in his spring debut, striking out three and allowing one hit, as New York beat Houston on Saturday. The two-time NL Cy Young Award also got the word, not that there was any doubt, that he'd start on opening April 1 at Washington.

Pete Alonso hit an RBI double off Houston starter Zack Greinke. James McCann doubled and singled and Dominic Smith homered for New York. Closer Edwin Diaz followed deGrom, pitching a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout in his first outing.

Greinke gave up two hits in his only inning.

Pirates 3, Yankees 2 (7)

New York manager Aaron Boone returned to the dugout, three days after surgery to have a pacemaker inserted. Boone, who turns 48 in a few days, returned to camp after clearing COVID-19 protocols and said he felt great.

Jameson Taillon made his first start for the Yankees, pitching against the team that traded him to New York this winter. He struck out four over two scoreless innings. Jay Bruce and Clint Frazier homered.

Notes

Boston's Mata shut down

The Red Sox are losing their top pitching prospect for at least the start of the season, if not longer.

Right-hander Bryan Mata, 21, has a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and will be shut down indefinitely.

Mata was experiencing tricep soreness this week and the Red Sox thought it was nothing serious until an MRI revealed the UCL damage.

Mata will not have surgery and instead will try rest and rehab to recover.

"The doctors and physicians feel like it's small enough so with treatment and doing that he should be fine," manager Alex Cora said. "Obviously it's going to take some time. There is no timetable."

With a fastball that sits in the high 90s and developing off-speed pitches, Mata has climbed through the ranks quickly in the minor leagues, reaching Double-A as a 20-year-old in 2019. He was invited to big league camp and given a chance to impress this spring.

"If he is disciplined and follows everything that we are set to do, the hope is for him to come back," Cora said. "He is very important to us. It's a tough one."

Cora stressed patience was the key for Mata in his recovery, but noted that anytime the UCL is involved, it's scary.

"He's young enough where probably everything is going fast for him right now," Cora said. "But he is mature enough to understand these things happen over the course of your career. He did an amazing job in the offseason to get in shape and get his arm where it's supposed to be. It's an obstacle in his career, but we do feel he is going to bounce back and he is going to be OK."

Gregory Polanco homered and had three hits for Pittsburgh. He already has eight RBIs in exhibition play. Cody Ponce, competing for the final spot in the rotation, made his first start. Ponce worked an inning, surrendering Bruce's home run and walking two.