Mets' offense turns on late in 8-0 win against Athletics

The Mets’ bats woke up late en route to an 8-0 win over the Athletics on Sunday afternoon to take the rubber game of the three-game series.

Here are the takeaways…

-Not having hit to their fullest potential in the early going this season, the Mets had a golden opportunity to get off to a fast start against former Met Luis Severino in the first inning, after the right-hander walked Francisco Lindor to lead things off and Juan Soto reached on an error. However, New York wasted the prime scoring chance following a double play by Pete Alonso and a groundout by Brandon Nimmo.

-Meanwhile, Kodai Senga toed the rubber for his third start of the season and fell into immediate trouble after a leadoff double by Lawrence Butler to left field. Nimmo made a diving effort on the sinking line drive but came up empty, although the outfielder’s hustle back to the ball kept Butler from going to third base. Senga rebounded nicely and got a strikeout, flyout and groundout to strand Butler at second.

-Senga was living dangerously in the first few innings and had to deal with traffic on the basepaths. But the right-hander was bailed out with a nifty double play in the second inning, started by third baseman Brett Baty — who was playing in on the grass — and turned by Luisangel Acuña at second. The duo turned another double play in the third after Senga allowed back-to-back singles to start the frame.

-As for Severino, he and Senga were matching zeros and engaged in a pitchers’ duel. After escaping the first inning, the former Met struck out three in the second (all looking), one in the third and two in the fourth, which came after a double by Nimmo and a walk to Luis Torrens. Severino got through five scoreless innings, and despite a high pitch count — thanks to some tough at-bats by the Mets throughout the contest — he went out there for the sixth.

-Alonso began the inning with a walk and ended up on third base after two groundouts. But before throwing another pitch, A’s manager Mark Kotsay went out to talk to his starter and instead of pulling him, Kotsay let Severino try to finish the inning.

Against his former battery mate, Torrens made Severino pay with an RBI single, his second hit of the game, to drive in Alonso for the game’s first run and end Severino’s outing. Torrens finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, a walk and a run scored. He’s now hitting .333 with a .942 OPS to begin the year.

-Staked to a lead, Senga, who got better as the game went on, kept on rolling. The 32-year-old pitched a shutdown sixth and ended his day with a 1-2-3 seventh, including two strikeouts. In seven frames, Senga allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out four across just 79 pitches. He likely could’ve went longer, but the Mets are still taking things slow with the righty after his injury-plagued 2024 campaign.

-New York’s offense tacked on two in the seventh with an RBI double by Lindor and a bases loaded walk by Mark Vientos — just his second RBI this season. The Mets added another run in the eighth before the floodgates opened in the ninth, when New York scored four more to make it 8-0. The big hits belonged to Vientos (RBI double), Torrens (RBI ground-rule double) and Baty (RBI triple).

Baty’s triple was his first hit of the game, and it drove in his first run of the season as he looks to get his year on track. It was also the Mets’ second triple of the afternoon, after Tyrone Taylor reached third in the eighth.

-Every starter besides Soto (0-for-3, two walks) had at least one hit. Lindor, Nimmo and Torrens produced multi-hit games.

–A.J. Minter and Max Kranick followed Senga in relief and kept the shutout intact with a scoreless inning each.

Game MVP: Luis Torrens

Torrens got the Mets on the board and finished 3-for-4.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets continue their road trip with three against the Minnesota Twins, starting on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m.

RHP Clay Holmes (1-1, 4.30 ERA) will go up against RHP Joe Ryan (1-1, 2.65 ERA).

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