Apr 11, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) celebrates with outfielder Brandon Nimmo (9) after the Mets scored against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images / Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
An eighth inning home run from Pete Alonso to put the New York Mets up 7-4 ended up being huge for the visiting team, who allowed the tying run to reach second base in the bottom of the ninth. The A’s got a couple of cracks to drive the runner home, but JJ Bleday hit a sac-fly to score the runner from third, then Jacob Wilson grounded out to second base to end the game.
This one started as a bit of a pitcher’s duel, with the score being 2-1 Mets after four, and 3-1 Mets after five. Then the bullpens got involved, and the runs started piling up.
In the sixth, with Jose Siri already aboard and one away, Athletics second baseman Max Muncy’s error put Francisco Lindor aboard. Former New York Yankees prospect Mitch Spence then walked Juan Soto to load the bases, and Pete Alonso (3-for-3, 3 RBI, HR) would hit a sac-fly to score one.
Former Athletic Starling Marte would add a two RBI double to give the Mets a healthy 6-1 lead heading to the bottom half of the inning.
Mets starter Griffin Canning would begin the frame, allowing a double to catcher Shea Langeliers, and a one-out single to Wilson. That hit extended Wilson’s season-opening hitting streak to 14 games. With the score sitting at 6-2, another former Yankee, Miguel Andujar, smacked a two-run homer down the left field line to make it 6-4 Mets.
Reed Garrett would replace Canning at that point with one down and momentum firmly with the A’s, who would load the bases for their best hitter on the young season, Tyler Soderstrom. Garrett got him to line out to right field, where Soto was waiting for the easy grab.
Soderstrom’s fly out left the bat at 109.3 miles per hour and had an expected batting average of .590, but the expected stats were not on the A’s side on Friday night in West Sacramento.
As a team, the A’s had an expected batting average of .308 in this one, while the Mets were at just .218. The A’s also drew seven walks, and went a solid 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but left nine runners on base. The Mets left ten.
This game was all about capitalizing on the opportunities that were presented, and New York was able to do that just a touch more than the A’s. That’s why they’re 9-4 and the Athletics are alone in cellar of the AL West at 5-9.
It’s still very early in the season, and one good week can still turn around the entire outlook of the season for the A’s. They’ve also only played one series against a divisional opponent, and that was against the Seattle Mariners on the road to open the season. They split that one against a team that has had their number over the past four years.
Since that series in Seattle, the A’s have faced the Mets (9-4), Chicago Cubs (9-7), Colorado Rockies (3-10), and San Diego Padres (11-3). Outside of the Rockies, those teams are some of the best in baseball, and all have aspirations to make a deep postseason run. The A’s are also getting some of those tougher teams out of the way early.
The A’s schedule will ease up a bit next week, but for now there are two more games against a tough opponent left this weekend, and this is another series where the team can make a statement.
The Athletics will be sending out former Mets prospect J.T. Ginn on Saturday, whom they received as the big piece in the Chris Bassitt trade. Ginn has been dominant to begin the season in Triple-A Las Vegas, striking out over 50% of the hitters he’s faced while having a sub-1.00 FIP.
While he has not been officially added to the roster, he has a locker in the A’s clubhouse, and manager Mark Kotsay confirmed that he would indeed be starting Saturday’s game after the club optioned number five starter Joey Estes at the beginning of the week.
Ginn will be opposed by David Peterson (1-0, 2.53 ERA), who has done a nice job of limiting the damage against him through two starts. The one caveat being that his FIP is three runs higher than his ERA in the small sample, sitting at 5.69. He’s a ground ball pitcher (52%), which should help him at Sutter Health Park, but there is no way his 98.6% left on base percentage stays intact for much longer.
If the A’s can elevate against Peterson, then they should have a good chance on Saturday.
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