News Every Day | 25 September 2022, 02:28

DeGrom Roughed Up; Mets Lose 10-4 to A’s

Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

There are bad losses, and then there are losses like the one the New York Mets (96-57) suffered at the hands of the Oakland Athletics (56-96) on Saturday afternoon, a 10-4 beatdown that was even worse than the score would suggest. Jacob deGrom was hit hard in a lackluster start, while the offense went missing after a big first inning. There are nine more games in the regular season to right the ship, but it was far from an encouraging sight with the Mets in the thick of a heated division race and with the postseason looming.

Things started out strong for the Mets, who piled on in the first inning against A’s starter Ken Waldichuk. Mark Canha extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Francisco Lindor followed that up with a sacrifice fly to bring in the first run of the game.

That sacrifice fly gave Lindor 100 RBI on the season, the first time in his career that he has reached that milestone. This is the first season since 2008 during which two different Mets hitters have recorded 100 RBI.

https://twitter.com/Mets/status/1573769901138919429?s=20&t=brkrXRuSKqknvO1aauW_vw

Pete Alonso extended the lead with a two-run homer, putting the Mets up by a score of 3-0. It was Alonso’s 38th home run of the season, and it put him on 123 RBI, one shy of tying the club record shared by David Wright and Mike Piazza.

Despite the early momentum, the Mets were met with an immediate response from the A’s in the bottom of the first inning. deGrom walked the bases loaded with one out, and Dermis García capitalized with a two-run double over the head of a stumbling Jeff McNeil in left field. Conner Capel brought in the third run with an RBI groundout, and Shea Langeliers gave the A’s a 4-3 lead with an RBI double immediately after.

deGrom got out of the frame without any further damage, but he allowed four runs in the first inning of a start for the first time in his career. After all was said and done, his newly minted major league record streak of 40 consecutive starts allowing no more than three runs was snapped after just one inning.

First big league homer for @MarkVientos_5! pic.twitter.com/839JYYkQyZ

— New York Mets (@Mets) September 24, 2022

The Mets picked up deGrom right away, with Mark Vientos launching a solo homer in the top of the second inning to tie the game at 4-4. Vientos’ first major league home run came just one day after a multi-hit effort on Friday night, and he is getting the chance to play every day against an A’s rotation that is stocked with southpaws.

deGrom settled down in the second inning, retiring all three batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts. However, he got tagged for another run in the top of the third inning, as Seth Brown took him deep to put the A’s up 5-4. This was the first time since May 2019 that deGrom allowed five runs in a start, and he has allowed at least three runs in each of his last three starts.

The Mets turned it over to the bullpen after four lackluster innings from deGrom, during which he allowed five runs on six hits. He recorded a season-low five strikeouts, and perhaps most concerning, he issued four walks after walking just four batters across his first nine starts this year.

Trevor Williams got the call in the fifth inning and did not fare much better, allowing a solo homer to Capel. Williams gave way in the sixth inning to Joely Rodríguez, who also gave up a run courtesy of an RBI single from Brown.

Adam Ottavino was brought in for the seventh inning and suffered a similar fate, giving up an RBI single to Nick Allen. The A’s pushed their lead to 8-4 by the end of the seventh, and their offense was firing on all cylinders.

The A’s were getting it done with more than just their bats, executing several great defensive plays in the sixth and seventh innings to prevent the Mets’ offense from pulling themselves back into the game. That was contrasted with poor defensive plays from Darin Ruf in right field, who looked lost on just about every ball hit his way and directly contributed to several runs scored by the A’s.

The nail in the coffin was delivered in the eighth inning by Capel, who capped out a phenomenal day with a two-run single off Trevor May to make it a 10-4 game. The Mets went down quietly in the ninth for one of their most egregious losses of the season.

Amidst the difficult day at the office for the Mets, Lindor did manage to extend his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the sixth inning. There were few other positives to take away on a day where the Mets collected nine hits but none with runners in scoring position.

Player of the Game: Mark Vientos

Vientos has had a tumultuous start to his major league career, but he has looked far more comfortable at the plate in this series. He has three hits and three RBI over his last two games, including his first major league homer. He will likely get the opportunity to build on that momentum on Sunday with another A’s lefty on the bump.

Final line for Vientos: 1-for-3, HR (1), BB

On Deck:

The Mets will aim to bounce back and secure a series victory when they take on the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 4:07 pm, and the game will be broadcast on PIX11. The Mets will go with Max Scherzer on the mound, while the A’s will run out JP Sears.