Mets’ bats go quiet in loss to Athletics, J.T. Ginn

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For as deep and dangerous as the Mets’ lineup may well be, here is their early-season reality: It is top heavy. When the big bats at the beginning don’t get it done, the others haven’t, either.

That was the case Saturday afternoon in a 3-1 loss to the Athletics. Starter David Peterson and reliever Jose Butto did well to limit the A’s, but that was even more true of their counterparts.

The first third of the Mets’ order finished 0-for-9.

Francisco Lindor, who had his eight-game hit streak end Friday night, drew a walk and reached on an error but wound up with a second hitless contest in a row. Juan Soto, whose .818 OPS is middling by his standards, likewise walked twice but did nothing in his other two at-bats. And Pete Alonso, by far the Mets’ best hitter across the first two-plus weeks of the season, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and five runners left on base.

Athletics righthander J.T. Ginn, a former Mets prospect, held his original organization to one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Mets broke through only on Brandon Nimmo’s home run — a skied no-doubter onto the rightfield berm — in the sixth inning. Ginn struck out six and walked two.

For the 25-year-old Ginn, who appeared in eight games last season but retained his rookie eligibility for 2025, it marked a successful season debut as he tries to establish himself as a major-leaguer. Selected by the Mets in the second round of the draft in 2020, Ginn got shipped to the A’s in the March 2022 deal that brought Chris Bassitt to Queens.

Mason Miller, the A’s flamethrowing closer, maxed out his fastball at 103.7 mph in a scoreless ninth inning. Luis Torrens nearly tied the game with a two-run home run when the Mets were down to their last strike, but his deep drive to rightfield landed just foul.

Peterson worked around plenty of hard contact for a fine final line: six innings, seven hits, two runs. He totaled five strikeouts and didn’t walk anybody. Both runs came across in the fourth.