rewrite this title Deadspin | Athletics finding reasons to celebrate while Mets looking for answers

The Athletics went viral with a new home run celebration Saturday as they locked up a winning road trip to New York.

The mood is decidedly more downbeat for the New York Mets.

The visiting Athletics will look to complete a three-game sweep of the reeling Mets Sunday afternoon when the teams close out an interleague series.

Aaron Civale (1-0, 2.70 ERA) is slated to start for the Athletics against Freddy Peralta (1-0, 4.80) in a battle of right-handers.

Tyler Soderstrom hit two homers Saturday for the Athletics, who held off a late Mets rally to record an 11-6 victory.

The win was the fourth consecutive for the Athletics, who have trailed at the end of an inning just once in their last 33 frames dating back to Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the New York Yankees.

Bo Bichette’s RBI single in the first inning put the Mets ahead Saturday, but the Athletics went ahead for good in the second, when Denzel Clarke drew a bases-loaded walk and Lawrence Butler hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice.

The real fun for the Athletics began in the third, when Soderstrom hit a two-run homer — the club’s first round-tripper since April 5.

Upon reaching the dugout, Butler presented Soderstrom with a gold elephant chain. Pitcher Luis Severino, who was on the Mets when they turned Grimace and Jose Iglesias’ song “OMG” into rallying cries during their run to the National League Championship Series in 2024, then placed a leather elephant mask atop Soderstrom’s head.

The Athletics repeated the ritual twice more Saturday, when Carlos Cortes hit a three-run shot in the second and when Soderstrom went deep again for a three-run homer in the eighth.

The necklace and mask will surely be in the visiting dugout Sunday when the Athletics attempt to conclude their most successful road trip in more than four years.

The Athletics haven’t lost one game or fewer on a road trip of six games or longer since Sept. 14-19, 2021, when the then-Oakland Athletics went 5-1 against the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels.

“We’re playing really good baseball against really good teams,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “We’ve got a chance to obviously sweep a series in New York, which says a lot about the team and the confidence that they have.”

The Mets appeared to be bursting with confidence during a four-game winning streak from April 3-7 that was constructed almost entirely without slugging outfielder Juan Soto, who suffered a strained right calf in the first inning of a 10-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on April 3. Soto is expected to miss up to three weeks.

But the Mets have scored just nine runs in four consecutive losses to the Arizona Diamondbacks — who won the final two games of a three-game series — and the Athletics.

New York had only four extra-base hits in the first four games of the homestand before Saturday, when Bichette, Francisco Alvarez and Jorge Polanco all homered.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ longest-tenured position player, has yet to record an RBI this season but committed two mental mistakes against the Athletics. Lindor was caught off third base on teammate Jared Young’s grounder to first in the sixth inning of Friday’s 4-0 loss before he failed to cover second on Butler’s potential double-play grounder to second in the second inning Saturday.

“We’re better than that and we’ve got to fix it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “And we will.”

Neither Peralta nor Civale factored into the decision in their previous starts last Tuesday. Peralta allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings in the Mets’ 4-3, 10-inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, while Civale gave up one run over five innings as the Athletics fell to the New York Yankees 5-3.

Peralta is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Athletics. Civale is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in three games (two starts) against the Mets.

–Field Level Media