WEST SACRAMENTO — The Mets‘ bats just can’t seem to click. A lineup that was expected to mash has done so in what seems like fits and starts through 14 games this season. Saturday against the A’s, the Mets put traffic on the basepaths and made right-hander J.T. Ginn throw more pitches than h e likely wanted to, but only had one run to show for it. They fell, 3-1, in the second game of the series at Sutter Health Park, losing for only the third time this month. For the Athletics (6-9), it was their second win since moving to Sacramento. Called up Saturday morning from Triple-A Las Vegas, Ginn used a hard sinker and a slider the Mets (9-5) struggled to pick up to shut them down. The one run was a homer by Brandon Nimmo in the sixth. The left fielder, who last played in this ballpark as a minor league prospect about eight years ago, got a 3-1 cutter from Ginn over the plate and dove it over the right field fence to lead off the sixth inning. “He was very effective,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Ginn. “The movement on his pitches were unbelievable today. That sinker was really, really good, then the cutter [was too]. Nothing was straight, everything was in to righties, then away. Same thing with the lefties. He made pitches when needed. We created a little bit of traffic, but we couldn’t string together a rally. And he was really, really good.” Pete Alonso went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Juan Soto went 0-for-2 with two walks and Francisco Lindor went 0-for-3 with a walk, though the leadoff man did reach base three times (error, walk, fielder’s choice). It’s tough for any lineup to hit when their top hitters are neutralized, but for the Mets, when Alonso isn’t hitting, it’s even tougher. Mendoza doesn’t see this as a concern. “We’ve got too many good hitters in that lineup,” Mendoza said. “Right now, Pete is pretty much the one carrying us, but I like the fact that we are creating traffic and we’re getting guys on base.” Nimmo’s long ball cut the A’s 2-1 lead in half. Left-hander David Peterson allowed two earned runs in one rough inning, but was otherwise solid in a six-inning outing. However, the offense gave him little to work with. Ginn walked Lindor and Soto with one out in the top of the third, but struck out Alonso and got Nimmo to roll over on a sinker for the third out. Brett Baty hit a two-out single in the fourth and reached second when center fielder JJ Bleday bobbled his ball in the outfield, but Ginn then struck out Tyrone Taylor. The A’s scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, trying to go the other way off Peterson. With one out and a runner on second, Peterson gave up three straight singles to give the A’s a 1-0 lead and load the bases. “They were just kind of flipping singles and they were putting the bat on the ball and having good at-bats,” Peterson said. “I was trying to just stick to my game plan and go right after them. We got some ground balls, but there were one or two decisions that, whether it be sequence or execution, were kind of questionable to me.” With the bases loaded, Bleday hit a ground ball to second baseman Baty at the edge of the dirt on the left side. Baty lost his footing and slipped, recovering in time to make the easy flip to Alonso at first for the out, but unable to throw home to prevent the runner from scoring. Tyler Soderstrom came home easily, giving the A’s a 2-0 lead. Peterson recovered to give the Mets two more innings. Friday marked the start of 13 consecutive games without a day off, and the starters have made it a goal to start giving the bullpen more length. “I think it’s been talked about quite a bit, just in terms of, kind of the length that we had at home in the first homestand,” Peterson said. “As starters, that’s not really what we’re looking for, so we’ve kind of been talking to each other, making a group decision, that we need to pick it up.” The A’s took another run off Jose Butto in the seventh to go up 3-1, and right-hander Tyler Ferguson pitched around a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth to keep the lead intact. With one on and two out, catcher Luis Torrens hit an opposite-field line drive down the right field line over the fence, but it went just foul. Closer Mason Miller then threw a 102.7 MPH fastball inside, and Torrens made weak contact, sending a ground ball right to shortstop Jacob Wilson for the easy out. Miller converted his fourth save in as many tries. The series concludes Sunday afternoon with former Mets right-hander Luis Severino facing ace Kodai Senga. ...read more read less