Starter Kodai Senga put the New York Mets in a big hole today against the Athletics, and the Mets' comeback fell short.
The New York Mets lost their second straight game to the Athletics today, 11-6, as Kodai Senga had his first bad start of the season and a subsequent rally by the Mets that made it a one-run game fell short. The loss was the Mets third in a row, and they’ve now lost four of their last five.
The Mets started the scoring in this one in the third as an RBI single by Bo Bichette drove in Luis Robert Jr. Senga let the A’s take the lead back, however, on the first bases-loaded walk of his career to Denzel Clarke, followed by an RBI groundout out by Lawrence Butler scored the second run of the inning.
Things got far worse in the third as the Athletics blew the game open. A two-run homer by Tyler Soderstrom was the first big blow, but the hits kept on coming for the A’s, and Carlos Cortes delivered another huge home run, this one a three-run blast to make it 7-1.
The Mets weren’t done yet, though. Bo Bichette hit his first home run with Francisco Lindor on first to make it 7-3, and the Mets got two more in the sixth on another homer, this one by Francisco Alvarez, followed by a sacrifice fly from Brett Baty to cut the margin to 7-5. Another home run by Jorge Polanco made it 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh, and it looked like the Mets were in business with a chance to complete their comeback.
But it wasn’t to be—not by a long shot. That shot was the second home run by Soderstrom, who hit a three-run bomb after an RBI single by Shea Langeliers to put the game out of reach, 11-6.
The bullpen did some yeoman’s work in the middle innings, with Huascar Brazoban, Brooks Raley and Craig Kimbrel pitching 5-2/3 innings of scoreless relief. It was Kimbrel’s first appearance as a Met as he signed his contract today, and he responded by striking out two of the four hitters he face.
But it was Luke Weaver who blew up again in the eighth, giving up four runs to slam the door shut on a completed comeback. It was Weaver’s second big failure of the week, as he did the same thing following Nolan McLean against the Diamondbacks.
The Mets are now the not-so-proud owners of a four-game losing streak, which followed a four-game winning streak, so they’ve become the definition of streaky so far this year. They’ll try to salvage a game of the A’s series as Freddy Peralta takes the mound against Aaron Civale of the A’s.