Senga, Weaver Roughed Up as Mets Lose Fourth in a Row
The New York Mets’ early-season woes continued on Saturday afternoon against the Athletics as starter Kodai Senga struggled in a short outing, and the Mets fell behind 7-1 early.
While the Mets offense fought back to as close as 7-6, thanks to home runs by Bo Bichette, Francisco Alvarez, and Jorge Polanco, reliever Luke Weaver struggled for the second consecutive outing and allowed four runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach as the A’s beat the Mets 11-6. The Mets have now lost four in a row and are 7-8 on the season.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Kodai Senga Has His Roughest Outing So Far
In what is a big season for Senga, he showed promising signs in his first two starts of the season in St. Louis and then in San Francisco. Against the A’s, however, Senga never got full control of his stuff and was roughed up after just 2 1/3 innings of work. He allowed two runs in the second inning off two hits and two walks. Lawrence Butler hit a ground ball that had a small chance to be an inning-ending double play, but Francisco Lindor ran to Marcus Semien‘s side and didn’t cover second base, forcing Semien to throw out Butler at first base while an A’s runner scored.
The third inning is where things really unraveled for Senga. Shea Langeliers continued his torment of Mets pitching with a double. After a passed ball by Alvarez, Tyler Soderstrom homered to make it 4-1 A’s. A pair of singles by Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil was followed by a three-run homer by Carlos Cortes that ended Senga’s night. Senga’s fastball velocity, which had hit up to 98 mph since spring training, only averaged about 95mph on Saturday. He simply didn’t have it on this day.
Luke Weaver Struggles Again
Weaver had not allowed a run throughout his first four appearances out of the bullpen until Thursday night’s debacle against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after Nolan McLean was stellar. Weaver was looking to bounce back and keep the Mets’ comeback chances alive as they cut the lead to 7-6. However, Thursday’s struggles carried over to Saturday. Weaver allowed four runs on three hits, with the cappers coming courtesy of a Langeliers’ RBI single, and then Soderstrom’s second home run of the day. This time, a three-run home run. All four runs came with two outs. That made it 11-6 A’s and stopped any hope the Mets had at coming back and winning this game.
A key moment in that inning was Weaver allowing a hit to Denzel Clarke, the A’s number nine hitter. That set up the A’s top of the order to come up.
Polanco, Bichette Hit First Mets Home Runs
One of the few bright spots in the game was the offense coming alive on a day that saw the lineup get a bit of a reshuffling. Luis Robert Jr. got moved up to the two hole, Polanco to the three, and Bichette batted cleanup. Each reached base at least once, and Polanco and Bichette both hit their first home runs of the season. Bichette’s was a two-run homer to the opposite field in the fifth inning to cut the A’s lead to 7-3, while Polanco’s came in the seventh inning, which got the Mets to just a one-run deficit.
Bichette also drove in the Mets’ first run of the game with a single in the first inning as he had himself a three-RBI day. Alvarez also notched his fourth home run of the year in the bottom of the sixth. In total, the Mets offense scored six runs on 10 hits, but it was not enough, as the team dug itself into a hole early.
Brazoban, Raley, and Kimbrel Contribute
Before Weaver struggled again, Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, and Craig Kimbrel gave the Mets a chance. Brazoban relieved Senga and pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings and struck out three. Raley followed that with a shutout inning. That made way for Kimbrel, making his Mets debut, to pitch a shutout inning of his own. Even Luis García, who struggled mightily on Thursday night, gave the Mets a shutout inning in the ninth. But Weaver’s disastrous outing dampens what could’ve been a strong day for the bullpen.
Player of the Game: Bo Bichette
Moved to the cleanup spot, Bichette drove in three runs and slammed a two-run opposite-field home run.
On Deck:
The Mets will try to salvage this series and an overall miserable homestand on Sunday afternoon. They will send Freddy Peralta to the mound against A’s pitcher Aaron Civale. The game will be telecast locally at 1:40 pm EDT on SNY and broadcast on WHSQ 880AM.
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