Mets shut out, swept by Athletics after 1-0 loss caps rough 1-5 homestand

(Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)

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Mets shut out, swept by Athletics after 1-0 loss caps rough 1-5 homestand

1 / 2

Mets shut out, swept by Athletics after 1-0 loss caps rough 1-5 homestand

2 / 2

Mets shut out, swept by Athletics after 1-0 loss caps rough 1-5 homestand

(Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)

The Mets were swept at home by the Athletics after being shut out, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

Here are the takeaways...

-- After Saturday's slugfest, the two teams were locked in a pitcher's duel in this one as Freddy Peralta and Aaron Civale went toe-to-toe against each other in a low-scoring affair. Peralta allowed the only run between the two when Nick Kurtz took him deep for a solo shot in the third inning for the reigning AL ROTY's first home run of the season and his first hit in the series.

That would end up being Peralta's only blemish of the afternoon as he turned in his best start as a Met by going six innings and allowing four hits, three walks and striking out six on 100 pitches (64 strikes). The right-hander completed six innings for the first time this season, helped out by a 12-pitch sixth which was his first 1-2-3 inning of the day, and got better as the game went on. He lowered his season ERA to 3.86.

-- Peralta pitched well enough for the win but he exited with New York trailing 1-0 thanks to Civale getting the best of the Mets hitters. After allowing two hits in the first inning, Civale retired 13 batters in a row before Luis Torrens' eight-pitch leadoff single in the sixth inning. Prior to that at-bat, Civale was cruising and had thrown 61 pitches through five innings.

Suddenly, though, New York was threatening after Francisco Lindor got his second hit of the game to put runners at first and second with one out. After Jorge Polanco grounded into a force out, the A's turned to their bullpen and brought in left-hander Hogan Harris for the lefty Jared Young. The Mets countered with pinch-hitter Mark Vientos, who was 0-for-15 on the homestand, and he flied out to end the inning.

-- As he's done all season, Sean Manaea entered the game following Peralta's departure and pitched multiple innings in a piggyback-type situation. The left-hander was dominant in his three innings of work, retiring every batter he faced and striking out four. He needed just 41 pitches (33 strikes) to do it and gave his team a chance, leaving it in the hands of New York's offense to scratch out some runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Instead, the Mets made three quick outs on the ground and were swept by the A's, ending a 1-5 homestand in which they lost the last five games in a row.

-- Carson Benge, playing center field for just the third time this year, showed off his glove in the top of the fourth inning on a terrific diving catch on a blooper headed into no-man's land that would've resulted in two runs scoring. On a similar ball hit in the first inning, Benge broke in, stutter-stepped and was unable to come up with it on the dive attempt.

-- Lindor went 2-for-3 at the plate to extend his hitting streak to four games and had half of the Mets' hits. His first hit came leading off the first inning, but he was erased on the next batter trying to steal second on a strike him out, throw him out double play.

Game MVP: Sean Manaea

Manaea pitched wonderfully and is forcing the Mets to make a decision in the starting rotation with other pitchers not pitching great.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets head out to Los Angeles to begin a three-game series against the Dodgers on Monday night as part of a six-game road trip. First pitch is set for 10:10 p.m. on SNY.

LHP David Peterson (0-2, 6.14 ERA) will go for New York while the Dodgers have yet to announce a starter.