Jacob Lopez seems to be to proceed Athletics’ torrid pitching vs. Mets

The matchup of the Athletics’ stingy pitching staff and the New York Mets’ suddenly punchless offense went as one might expect on Friday.

The A’s will look to continue suffocating opponents Saturday afternoon when they visit the Mets in the middle contest of a three-game interleague series.

Left-hander Jacob Lopez (0-1, 6.48 ERA) is slated to start for the Athletics against Mets right-hander Kodai Senga (0-1, 3.09).

A quintet of pitchers for the Athletics combined to allow just six hits in 4-0 win on Friday.

The shutout was the second straight for the Athletics, who had three pitchers — Jeffrey Springs, Justin Sterner and Hogan Harris — combine for a one-hitter in a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon.

The Athletics received a surprise boost Friday from J.T. Ginn, who made his first start of the year and allowed just one hit — a bunt single by Jared Young — over four innings.

Mark Leiter, winning pitcher Jack Perkins, Scott Barlow and Elvis Alvarado recorded the final 15 outs for the A’s, who haven’t allowed a run since the first inning of Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Yankees — a 26-frame span in which they’ve surrendered just eight hits.

“Awesome job again tonight,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said on Friday.

The repetition wasn’t nearly as satisfying for the Mets, who have lost their last three games by a combined score of 18-3.

The skid followed a four-game winning streak in which New York outscored the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks 28-8. That dominance came despite playing all but one inning without left fielder Juan Soto, who is expected to be out until late this month with strained right calf suffered April 3.

The Mets are batting just .200 (20-of-100) over the last three games, during which they’ve used three different No. 3 hitters — Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Young — while Bo Bichette bats second in place of Soto. Polanco has sat out the last two contests due to bursitis in his left Achilles.

New York didn’t get a runner into scoring position Friday until the sixth inning, when Francisco Lindor and Bichette led off with singles before Lindor was thrown out by Nick Kurtz trying to scramble back to third base on Young’s grounder to first.

“Soto is irreplaceable, he’s one of the best hitters in the game,” Lindor said. “But guys understand that we’ve got to get it done.”

Neither Lopez nor Senga factored into the decision in their previous starts last Sunday. Lopez gave up three runs over 4 1/3 innings in the Athletics’ 12-10, 10-inning win over the Houston Astros, while Senga allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in the Mets’ 5-2 victory over the Giants.

Lopez threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in his lone previous appearance against the Mets on May 5, 2024, when he was pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Senga is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in two career starts against the A’s.

–Field Level Media