WEST SACRAMENTO — It was tough to tell if you were watching a major or minor league game Friday at what is now, for all intents and purposes, a major and minor league park. But one at-bat by Jose Siri changed the tenor of the game.
After some long at-bats and long innings, the Mets rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth, with Siri scoring the first on a shallow fly ball to spark a rally in the Mets’ 7-6 win over the A’s on Friday night.
Up 3-1 against right-handed reliever Mitch Spence, Siri worked a nine-pitch at-bat to draw a one-out walk. The A’s couldn’t make a play on a chopper by Francisco Lindor, and Juan Soto walked to load the bases.
That brought up Pete Alonso. His fly ball was shallow, too — about halfway between the infield dirt and the warning track dirt. Not many runners would run in that spot, especially with the strong-armed Lawrence Butler playing right field.
Siri isn’t every other runner.
“I thought it was a great decision there, especially when the right fielder didn’t get behind the baseball the way he’s capable of,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “He’s a really good outfielder, but once he got a little bit flat footed there, I think Siri took advantage of it.”
He broke for home and made it on a wild slide.
“It was a sick slide,” Alonso said. “Sick play.”
Starling Marte then hit a ball to deep center field and the ball went right over the head of JJ Bleday for a two-run double. The Mets were up 6-1.
“Ultimately, I think the biggest moment of the game is Starling hitting that ball and getting those runs in,” Alonso said. “That was huge. I think that was a huge, huge momentum shift for us right there.”
Technically, the biggest moment of the night was Alonso’s eighth-inning homer. The Mets led by five after scoring those three in the top of the sixth, but the A’s, searching for their second win in Sacramento, came right back and cut the lead to two in the bottom of the frame, chasing right-hander Griffin Canning from the game.
With two outs and the count full, Jose Leclerc threw him a 90 mph cutter on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. Alonso hit it more than 107 mph to left field, banking it off the ribbon board to give the Mets a 7-4 lead.
The first baseman went 3-for-3 with a double, his fourth home run of the season and three RBI. Already this season, Alonso has driven in 18 runs, two shy of Aaron Judge’s league lead.
“Another great day today,” Mendoza said of Alonso. “Some really good at bats. He’s impacting the baseball. We saw the homer, we saw the double, but he’s not missing pitches and he’s controlling the strike zone.”
That last run was enough to prevent the game from going into extra innings. Closer Edwin Diaz gave up two in the ninth before finally locking it down for his sixth save.
The Mets and A’s only play each other once a year, but once a year is plenty. Two years ago, the last time the Amazin’s visited the Oakland Coliseum, the A’s walked 17 hitters and the Mets scored 17 times. It was a club record for the team that used to call Oakland home.
Last summer, the Mets found themselves at the center of controversy (as they often do), when the “Hawk Tuah” girl tried to extend her 15 minutes of fame by throwing out the first pitch before the final game of the series at Citi Field. The two teams then proceeded to play the longest game in the pitch-clock era.
This game was devoid of the theatrics of the past, but it did feature a pitcher named Jason Alexander, which seems fitting. However, it was another long one.
The Mets battled the A’s, making them throw more pitches than they wanted. Left-hander J.P. Sears (1-2) threw 101 over only four innings and Spence threw 54 in less than two, facing only 10 hitters.
The long innings made it tough for Canning on a night when he didn’t have his slider or his changeup. It was obvious he wasn’t sharp after coming back out in the bottom of the sixth.
With this game being the first in a stretch of 13 without an off day, the Mets were hoping Canning (1-1) could steal a few more outs to spare the bullpen.
“Not an excuse,” Canning said. “Got to go out there — especially when we go out and put up a lead 6-1 — attack the zone and find a way to get some outs, to get deeper in the game and kind of save the bullpen a little bit.”
But the bullpen is a problem for another day. Siri provided the spark the Mets (9-4) needed to get their seventh win in their last eight tries.
“I just think when a runner like me is on base, I think they need to be more prepared for the situation,” Siri said. “I’m actually going to go home.”