Kodai Senga shuts out A's over seven innings in Mets' 8-0 win

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Finally, the New York Mets have their ace back, and he pitched every bit like one to help the Mets finish off a series against the A’s.

Kodai Senga tossed seven scoreless innings, the first pitcher to throw seven for the Mets this season. The right-hander dueled former Mets starter Luis Severino for more than five innings before Luis Torrens hit an RBI single to give Senga some run support in an 8-0 win at Sutter Health Park.

Senga was extremely efficient against a lineup that swung early and often. He used his sinker to get outs on the ground and needed only 79 pitches. It was the first seven-inning start for Senga since Sept. 1, 2023.

“I think it’s a great stepping stone to get my body to adapt so I can throw further into the game and continuously throughout the season,” Senga said through a team translator.

The Mets (10-5) needed Senga to go deep, and he delivered. A team dinner was held after the Mets arrived in West Sacramento, and with the starting rotation sitting together, they discussed their desire to give the team more length in their outings. Until Sunday, only David Peterson had pitched more than five innings, tossing six twice.

The bullpen has been stellar so far, but the starters wanted to pull their weight, especially with the Sacramento series being the first in a series of four without an off day.

“We knew at some point those guys were going to step up,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of his starting rotation. “They’re really good at what they do, and we saw it yesterday with Peterson going, and today, with Senga. Like I’ve said, just like hitting, it’s contagious, so hopefully we keep it going that way. And if not, we’ve got guys back there that can help us too.”

The right-hander allowed four hits and two walks, striking out four in the win (2-1). The sinker was key. Senga liked where Torrens called the pitch, and he liked the two 5-4-3 double plays turned by Brett Baty as well, telling the third baseman “Attaboy” after one in the second inning.

Mendoza considered using him again in the eighth, but with Senga having thrown only five innings prior to Sunday, he didn’t feel that he was conditioned for another up.

With the Mets piling on the runs in later innings, Mendoza was able to use A.J. Minter and Max Kranick to finish the game.

“I thought about it, but we’ve been keeping him at five innings the whole time, and it’s already a pretty big jump,” Mendoza said. “At seven innings, we were looking at 85 pitches. And after that long inning because of the offense, we saw a lot of runs, and I thought that was enough.”

The Mets added more runs late in the game, capitalizing on poor defense from the A’s to score two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, before exploding for four runs in the top of the ninth.

But before that, Severino brought the heat for the A’s (6-10) with a fastball that sat around 98 MPH. He pitched a two-on, none-out situation in the first with the help of a double play. He struck out three in the second, working around a two-out single by Torrens, and with two on and two out in the fourth, he battled Brett Baty for 10 pitches before striking out the scuffling infielder.

Severino was fired up coming off the mound and was nearly out of the sixth unscathed when the Mets finally broke through. Alonso worked a leadoff walk before getting to third on two ground-ball outs, putting him in position to score easily from third on the single by Torrens.

Severino lasted 5 1/3, giving up only one run on four hits, walking three and striking out six in his third loss of the season (0-3).

“I’m glad we got his pitch count up early,” Mendoza said. “Knowing Sevy, he wants to go the distance every time.”

Both products of the Yankees’ system, Torrens and Severino have known one another since 2012. Having caught Severino for so many years helped Torrens read the pitcher, but he downplayed any big effect. With Francisco Alvarez working his way back from March hamate bone surgery, Torrens has been getting the bulk of the playing time behind the plate. A forearm contusion sidelined him last week, but he returned to action Friday, going 1 for 5 with an RBI double.

He went 3 for 4 with two RBI, a double and a walk Sunday, coming up big in the sixth against his old battery-mate Severino, and doubling over the head of center fielder Seth Brown in the ninth. He’s hitting .333 on the season with four doubles and a home run.

He’s using the whole field right now, which Mendoza thinks is key to his approach.

“Especially with runners in scoring position, he’s not afraid to go the other way,” Mendoza said. “He can impact the baseball and pull it when he wants to. But I think he’s just going to give you a good at-bat overall [by] knowing the situation, [and] having the ability to slow the game down. I think it’s just coming down to getting good pitches and thinking small and using the whole field.”

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