New York Mets Drop A's in Sacramento
In this story:
Green and gold was the theme Sunday afternoon at Sutter Health Park for the rubber match between the A's and New York Mets, simultaneously keeping their eyes on the scores for the Masters at Augusta National where Rory Mcllroy and Justin Rose went head-to-head in a playoff, with Mcllroy winning his first green jacket and completing the grand slam.
Things did not go as well for the boys in green in Sacramento this weekend.
Although they dropped a close contest (7-6) on Friday night, they came back on Saturday focused. The A's tagged Mets starter David Peterson for a pair of runs and the New York offense struggled to get it going, only collecting five hits. The bad luck kept coming, as Jose Siri left the game mid at-bat when he fouled a ball off of his leg. He's still on crutches and an IL stint is a possibility.
Jhonny Pereda provided an insurance run in the seventh inning with a RBI double off reliever Jose Butto. This comes as a bit of a departure from recent events as the Mets bullpen has been putting up zeroes in their appearances routinely,
The A's continue to look for production from Pereda and others off the bench to provide extra offense and get rallies started going forward.
After the game, Mark Kotsay commented, "we faced one of the best left-handers in the game" in David Peterson and were able to walk away with the win.
Another positive addition has come with the arrival of RHP JT Ginn, who seems to be a perfect fit for this A's rotation and hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park. He earned his second Major League win on Saturday and was able to keep Alonso and the Mets' hitters off-balance.
In Sunday's rubber match, through five innings, both pitchers had not given up any runs, with Luis Severino collecting 6 strikeouts. However, the Mets lineup struck late and Severino exited, leaving the bullpen to take on the task while leaving a runner on first. That run would come around to score, breaking the scoreless tie.
The Mets continued to pile on, adding four runs in the ninth inning off RHP Justin Alexander, though his defense didn't necessarily help him out either. The ball didn't leave the park on Sunday afternoon, but DH Mark Vientos, shortstop Francisco Lindor and even Brett Baty all collected RBI in the win.
Jacob Wilson's season-opening 15-game hitting streak ended on Sunday, going 0-for-4 in the loss, but still had the sixth longest season-opening hit streak by a rookie since 1900. The longest streaks are held by David Dahl, Leon Roberts, and Chuck Aleno (17 games).
From Sac town to Chi town
Next up, the A's embark on a road trip to play the Chicago White Sox, who have been playing much better baseball as of late, with a series win against the Boston Red Sox. They dropped the series finale Sunday to Boston, but newcomer 3B Chase Meidroth broke up Garret Crochet's no-hitter in the eighth inning with a single. He's been giving them a lot to cheer about on the Southside.
The A's and White Sox will begin their series on Tuesday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 4:40 p.m. (PT).
Bridget Mulcahy is a freelance journalist and baseball author based out of Sacramento, California. She attended University of California, Davis where she earned her degree in Communications and Professional Writing. In 2018, she began covering the Sacramento River Cats at Sutter Health Park including the 2019 Pacific Coast League champion season. She has built her own website and social media presence where she writes about all aspects of baseball and provides a fresh, insightful perspective on the game.
Follow bridgetmmulcahy