With the Oakland A’s staring at two off-days this week, Bob Melvin decided it was a good time to give Sonny Gray a few extra days of rest.  With that decision, Melvin moved Scott Kazmir up to take his place for game one of the two game series against the Mets. That decision didn’t turn out positive for the Athletics; however, they were able to bounce back on Wednesday night to split the pair of interleague games. 

The teams will meet again in mid-August in Oakland for another two game series.  For now, here is a quick recap of each game, neither of which was very competitive. 

Game 1 final score: Mets 10, Athletics 1

Facing off against his old club, Bartolo Colon pitched an absolute gem for the Mets going 8IP, only allowing 1 run and 4 hits while striking out 8.  Conversely, the A’s Scott Kazmir went into Tuesday’s game with the best ERA in the AL only to see that dissipate in 3 innings.  Kazmir gave up 7 ER’s, including 3 home runs to the Mets in his worst appearance of the season. 

Curtis Granderson and another ex-Athletic, Chris Young, starred for the Mets.  Granderson hit a two-run home run to put the Mets on the board and sacrificed in another run for his third RBI. Young hit two long balls against his ex-club.  That would have been more than enough for the Mets, as Colon shut down the A’s offense all evening. 

Game 2 final score: Athletics 8, Mets 5

The A’s returned the favor on Wednesday night with a strong offensive performance, putting up two runs in the 1st and four more in the 2nd, knocking Mets SP Zack Wheeler out of the game early/ SP Brad Mills pitched himself out of trouble a few times in his 6IP to give him his first victory in an A’s uniform.

The A’s got on the board in the 1st inning via moonshot from Brandon Moss that reached the upper deck in right field. They broke the game open in the 2nd inning when Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes continued their hot streaks over the past week, each driving in two runs on hits. Crisp also homered in his next at bat in the 4th inning. 

The Mets scored three times in the 7th inning and two more times in the 8th to make the final score seem closer than it really was. Sean Doolittle came in to close the game for the A’s in the 9th and struck out the three batters he faced, continuing his scoreless inning streak. 

What’s Next?

The split moves the A’s record to 48-30 on the season, which continues to lead the majors. Oakland will now travel to Miami to take on the Marlins this Friday through Sunday, with another off-day on Thursday.