Tim Locastro helps steal win for Mets, with help from Brandon Nimmo
Brandon Nimmo of the New York Mets races into second base with an RBI double against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the sevent inning at RingCentral Coliseum on April 15, 2023 in Oakland, California. Credit: Getty Images/Thearon W. Henderson
OAKLAND, Calif. — Buck Showalter, planner extraordinaire, envisioned in spring training the exact scenario that resulted in the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Athletics on Saturday.
Daniel Vogelbach drew a walk in the seventh inning of a tied game. Tim Locastro entered as a pinch runner and immediately stole second base. Brandon Nimmo drove him in with a line drive ripped barely fair down the rightfield line for a two-out double.
Locastro, who has zero hits and three steals this season, is on the roster primarily for that reason: to put his speed to use in place of a less mobile teammate late in close games. That is why the Mets chose him over Darin Ruf at the end of spring training.
Through 15 games, Locastro has entered as a pinch runner four times, including on three occasions for Vogelbach specifically. This was the first time he came around to score. The other three tries resulted in narrow losses.
Oakland attempted its version of the same idea in the bottom of the eighth, but Adam Ottavino escaped with the Mets’ lead intact.
After Brent Rooker walked, former Yankees utilityman Tyler Wade — who is fast but provides little else — ran for him and stole second with none out. Two quick outs, another walk and two more steals later, Ottavino struck out Conner Capel swinging on his 28th pitch of the inning to strand two runners in scoring position.
“You gotta get the last end of that,” Showalter said. “Nim had a big hit for us.”
Drew Smith, Brooks Raley, Ottavino and David Robertson combined to allow one hit over four innings.
Robertson stranded the potential tying run at third base. He thought he caught Kevin Smith looking at a curveball to end the game, but plate umpire Scott Barry called Robertson for a pitch clock violation. On the next pitch, Robertson struck him out for real — still looking.
“It’s a real tribute to why you like solid veteran pitchers,” Showalter said. “A lot of people would let that [rattle them]. Think you’ve made a pitch to end the game and let it turn into something else. He came back with a well-located fastball.”
Carlos Carrasco managed to hold the Athletics (3-12) to two runs in five innings (plus one batter), a major improvement over his previous two starts. But he still dealt with diminished velocity and a ton of baserunners — four of whom reached via hit, one via walk, three getting hit by a pitch.
Carrasco narrowly avoided major trouble after loading the bases in the fourth. Mark Canha ranged to his right to make a running catch on Tony Kemp’s line drive to leftfield, saving three runs.
Carrasco’s favorite part: the one free pass after totaling seven across his first two starts.
“I’m really happy, because the first two games there were a lot,” he said. “[Saturday] I just got one. That’s really important, to keep the walks low instead of high. That’s when I get a lot of damage.”
The Mets (9-6) had a hard time with Athletics righthander Shintaro Fujinami, a 29-year-old rookie from Japan whose ugly first two starts made for a 17.55 ERA entering the game. He allowed three runs in six innings (plus two batters).
Fujinami entered the seventh inning having allowed just one run on Pete Alonso’s homer in the fourth. But both of his batters in that final frame reached: Canha on a tying solo home run, then Vogelbach on a walk.
“For me personally, it does mean a little bit extra,” said Canha, a Bay Area native who played for the A’s from 2015-21. “I want to win these games. It felt really good to get that one.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
