Kodai Senga roughed up, Mets drop below .500 after 11-6 loss to Athletics

· Yahoo Sports

The Mets lost to the Athletics, 11-6, at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon and dropped their fourth straight.

Here are the takeaways...

-- It was not a good day at the office for Kodai Senga who lasted just 2.1 innings after allowing seven earned runs on eight hits, including two home runs -- the second of which coming on the last pitch he threw which resulted in a three-run homer that gave the Athletics a 7-1 lead. In that same inning, Senga allowed a leadoff double, a two-run homer, and two singles before the second blast of the inning, all of which resulted in five runs.

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It was the first time in Senga's career (55 starts) that the right-hander allowed a three-run home run (he has yet to allow a grand slam) and the first time he's allowed seven earned runs or more in a game.

-- Senga's command was also off. Not only did he walk two in his abbreviated outing, including one with the bases loaded to even up the score at 1-1, he was only able to throw a first pitch strike to five of the 17 batters he faced. Of the 72 pitches he threw, 40 were strikes. 

Following the disastrous outing, Senga's ERA climbed to 7.07 in the early season.

-- New York got on the board first, scoring a run in the bottom half of the opening inning. Luis Robert Jr. singled, advanced to second on a groundout and crossed home plate on Bo Bichette's RBI single off Jacob Lopez to take a 1-0 lead. That lead vanished in the second inning, though, with the A's scoring twice with the second run scoring on a ground ball to second base that could've been an inning-ending double play had Francisco Lindor covered the bag instead of going for the ball.

-- The score was held to 7-1 thanks to Huascar Brazoban's 2.2 innings of scoreless relief that kept his 0.00 ERA in tact. It also gave the Mets a chance to fight back which they did in the fifth inning, scoring twice on Bichette's opposite-field, two-run shot -- his first home run as a Met. After a slow start, Bichette has kicked it into gear and is hitting .254 after his 2-for-3 day that included two walks.

-- After Brooks Raley kept the Athletics off the board in his inning of relief (also to keep his scoreless streak to start the season alive), New York was back at it offensively in the sixth. Francisco Alvarez led off the inning with a solo home run to straightaway center field that was initially ruled a double but overturned to a homer and got the Mets closer, 7-4. 

A walk and a single put runners at the corners with nobody out and Brett Baty came through with a sacrifice fly to get the Mets to within two. An inning later they cut the deficit to one on Jorge Polanco's first home run as a Met that snuck over the wall in right field. It was New York's third home run in three straight innings.

-- What felt like a potential incredible Mets comeback brewing came crashing down in the eighth inning after Luke Weaver entered the game and allowed four runs, all with two outs. The big hit came on Tyler Soderstrom's three-run blast that went 420 feet to right-center field and gave the A's an 11-6 advantage. It was Soderstrom's second home run of the game after he took Senga deep for a two-run shot in the third.

New York went quietly in the eighth and ninth innings and dropped its fourth straight game, after a four-game winning streak, to go below .500 once again.

-- Following his promotion back to the major leagues earlier in the day, Craig Kimbrel made his debut for the Mets and pitched a clean seventh inning that included two strikeouts. The former All-Star closer needed just 10 pitches and threw nine strikes.

-- Still trying to find his footing in the big leagues, Carson Benge had an up-and-down game. The rookie went 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base but added an error in left field on the first batter of the game.

-- Every starter in the lineup except Mark Vientos had at least one hit. After an exceptionally hot road trip, Vientos has cooled off and has gone hitless during this homestand (0-for-15).

Game MVP: Tyler Soderstrom

In a game in which the A's scored 11 runs on 15 hits, Soderstrom stood out the most with his 3-for-5 and two-homer performance out of the cleanup spot.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets play the finale of their three-game series with the Athletics on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 p.m.

RHP Freddy Peralta (1-0, 4.80 ERA) goes up against RHP Aaron Civale (1-0, 2.70 ERA).

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