WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Mets’ strength as a lineup lies in a grind-out approach that extends at-bats and forces opposing pitchers to work for outs.
Friday night was something of a master clinic by the Mets in that regard.
With Pete Alonso as the ringleader, the A’s ended up throwing 210 pitches. The Mets threw 156.
Alonso turned his extended at-bats into production with a three-RBI performance that included a home run late in the Mets’ 7-6 victory at Sutter Health Park.
Alonso, who had an eight-pitch plate appearance earlier in the game, homered on the seventh pitch of his at-bat against Jose Leclerc in the eighth.
The slugging first baseman boosted his .OPS through 13 games to a robust 1.260.
Edwin Diaz survived a rocky ninth inning in which he allowed two runs on two walks and a double for the save.
With the tying run on second base, he retired Jacob Wilson to end it.
Griffin Canning was sharp early but couldn’t get through the sixth and was removed after allowing three runs in the inning.
Overall, the right-hander allowed four earned runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts over 5 ¹/₃ innings. David Peterson remains the only Mets pitcher to complete six innings in a start this season.
Brandon Nimmo homered to lead off the second for the game’s first run.
The blast was Nimmo’s third this season.
hard-earned save in the Mets’ win over the A’s. Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
The Mets weren’t finished in the inning. Luisangel Acuña doubled, and Luis Torrens — back in the starting lineup after missing five straight starts with a forearm contusion — stroked an RBI double that extended the Mets’ lead to 2-0.
But the Mets missed an opportunity in the third, after Soto reached on Tyler Soderstrom’s fielding error and Alonso was plunked. JP Sears retired the next three batters, with Lawrence Butler’s sliding catch in right field as he crossed the foul line ending the inning.
The A’s pulled within 2-1 in the second on Miguel Andújar’s RBI single.
Gio Urshela followed with a single, but Nimmo’s leaping catch on Max Muncy’s line drive for the third out protected the Mets’ lead.
Shea Langeliers’ leadoff walk ignited the rally, and JJ Bleday singled before Canning got Wilson to hit into a double play.
Canning escaped trouble in the third after Brent Rooker launched a triple off the center field fence.
The ensuing batter, Soderstrom, hit a grounder to first base against a drawn-in infield, and Alonso’s throw home easily nailed Rooker.
After Soto singled on the eighth pitch of his at-bat against Sears to lead off the fifth, Alonso (also on the eighth pitch) smashed an RBI double that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead.
Alonso got as far as third base on a wild pitch before reliever Mitch Spence got two outs and walked Mark Vientos. The rally died on Acuña’s soft liner to second base.
Canning walked Urshela and Rooker in the fifth but escaped by getting Soderstrom on a long fly to Jose Siri in center field.
The Mets built a cushion in the sixth on Starling Marte’s two-run double that extended the lead to 6-1.
Alonso’s sacrifice fly brought in the inning’s first run after the Mets had loaded the bases on two walks and an error. Marte punctuated the frame with a shot over the center fielder Bleday’s head.
But the A’s got to Canning in the bottom of the inning. Andújar delivered the blow that ended the right-hander’s night with a two-run homer that sliced the Mets’ lead to 6-4.
Langeliers opened the inning with a double and after Bleday was retired on a line drive to right field, Wilson delivered an RBI single. Andújar’s homer followed.
Reed Garrett loaded the bases by allowing a double to Max Muncy and consecutive walks to Lawrence Butler and Rooker before retiring Soderstrom to end the inning.
Alonso homered with two outs in the eighth to stretch the Mets’ lead to 7-4.
The RBI was Alonso’s third of the game and gave him 18 for the season. Diaz then survived a potential disaster in the ninth.
