Alonso and Lindor power Mets past A’s 13-4 behind Scherzer

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER

The A’s wrapped up their last regularly scheduled home stand of the season with a 13-4 shellacking at the hands of the New York Mets Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum.

Three time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (11-4, 2.13) got the win, the 201st of his career, throwing six strong innings and striking out seven, only yielding a fourth inning solo home run to Seth Brown. The win reduced the Mets magic number to clinch the NL East to eight with eight games remaining.

©DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Max Scherzer delivers a pitch during the Mets 13-4 win over the Athletics Sunday afternoon.

The Mets opened up a 5-0 lead in the fourth after a two run double by Francisco Lindor chased Oakland starter and loser JP Sears (6-3, 4.22). The next batter, Pete Alonso, then proceeded to crush a Norge Ruiz fastball 444 feet deep into the left field pavilion for his 39th home run of the year, stretching New York’s lead to 7–0.

Brown’s 25th home run of the season in the bottom of the inning cut the Mets lead to 7– 1, but by then the outcome was never in doubt.

“He’s got 25 home runs with a chance to do more,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “We’re excited about how he’s finishing the season. Really, really impressed with what Seth’s done. He continues to get better. He continues to take great at-bats. He’s hitting in the heart of the lineup. He’s got two years of service time, yet the growth we’re seeing is what we were looking for.”

New York blew the game open in the eighth when another RBI single by Lindor extended the lead, followed by a bases loaded double by Alonso that gave the Mets an 11–1 advantage. The five RBI’s gave Alonso 128 for the season, breaking the Mets franchise record of 124 previously held by David Wright and Mike Piazza and tying the Yankees Aaron Judge for the Major League lead. Lindor’s 3-5 day with three RBI’s and Alonso’s four hits paced the Mets 19 hit attack.

©DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Pete Alonso of the Mets celebrates his 39th home run of the season during the fourth inning of New York’s 13-4 win in Oakland Sunday.

The only other bright spot for the A’s came in the bottom of the ninth, with the 13-1 game long out of reach, as Conner Capel, in just his fifth game in an Oakland uniform, connected for a three run home run off of Seth Lugo to provide the final margin.

After a day off Monday Oakland will travel to Anaheim for three games against the Angels before completing their road schedule with three games in Seattle next weekend. James Kaprielian (4-9, 4.44) is scheduled to face Patrick Sandoval (6-0, 3.01) in Tuesday night’s opener. The Athletics will then return to Oakland to finish the season with three games against the Angels, making up a series that was originally cancelled by the spring lockout.

GAME NOTES:

The loss dropped the A’s record to 56-97, forcing them to win seven of their last nine games to avoid registering just the second 100 loss season since the franchise moved to Oakland from Kansas City following the 1967 season. The team is also all but assured of finishing with the worst record in the American League for the fourth time since relocating.

With the loss, Oakland also clinched last place in the AL West, where they now reside 45.5 games behind the division winning Astros. Prior to this season, the most games back the Athletics ever finished was 38.5 in 1977.

A’s starting pitchers are now 38-71 this season without a single complete game. The last complete game by an Oakland hurler was Sean Manaea’s effort on June 2, 2021, 257 games ago.

On this date in 1987, Mark McGwire’s broke Reggie Jackson’s franchise record with his 48th homer of the season on the way to a then Major League rookie record of 49 home runs. McGwire’s mark stood until the Mets’ Alonso smashed 53 home runs in 2019.

About Daniel Gluskoter

Daniel Gluskoter is the Martinez Tribune's national music and sports editor and a Bay Area photojournalist who's work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2008 Presidential campaign as a correspondent for United Press International and has travelled worldwide covering events ranging from numerous Super Bowls and Olympics to Live Aid and the Grammys.

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