Following a two hour rain delay, the Oakland Athletics dropped a 4-1 decision to the New York Mets for their second straight loss and first series loss in over a week. Graham Godfrey pitched fairly well but the defense struggled behind him as two errors cost the A’s two big runs. Of course, given that the A’s only managed one run, it might not have made a difference in the end.
The Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. They grabbed three singles before a double play plated one run and a Jose Reyes single plated a second run. In the fifth inning, Reyes led off the inning by reaching base on a Jemile Weeks error. It was a tough call on Weeks as new first baseman Mark Ellis ranged a bit far to his right meaning the pitcher had to cover first. Ellis pulled up for Weeks to get the ball but his throw was just a bit in front of the pitcher. Reyes would later come around to score on a two out single.
In sixth inning, Reyes came up with two outs and men on first and second. Reyes popped a ball up to first baseman Chris Carter, who had taken over for Ellis in a double switch that inning. On the first ball hit towards Carter he dropped a foul ball, keeping Reyes’ AB alive. Reyes then singled to center to score Josh Thole and give the Mets the 4-0 lead.
The A’s managed to score a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Coco Crisp, but otherwise struggled once again on offense. Scott Sizemore managed a couple hits including a double, but the A’s could not find a timely hit to score any more runs.
The A’s now head down to Philadelphia for three games against the NL East-leading Phillies. The Phillies are 47-28 and hold a 4.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves. They will be sending out Vance Worley, Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay to face Guillermo Moscoso, Trevor Cahill, and Josh Outman. The series starts Friday at 4:05pm pacific.