After dropping game one to the Athletics on Tuesday and extending their losing streak to four, the Athletics (51-63 entering Wednesday night) and Mets (61-58 entering Wednesday’s game) continued their series on Wednesday evening in New York. The Athletics sent right-handed pitcher Joey Estes (5-4, 4.83 ERA) to the mound against the Mets’ southpaw David Peterson (6-1, 3.15 ERA).

On Wednesday, the Mets were in search of an offensive spark. As Ricky Keeler mentioned in an article on Metsmerized, the Mets were 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, adding to their 4-for-33 RISP skid over the last four losses.

To make a run for the postseason, the Mets need to get their offense clicking and give the pitching staff a chance to keep the team in games.

They did that on Wednesday in a big way, striking for nine runs on 11 hits. The extra-base hits and home runs led the way early for the Mets, and almost every starter in the lineup joined the party as the Mets scored six of their nine runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor led the Mets’ offense as they drove in five of the Mets’ nine runs. Alonso had three RBIs on the night, and Lindor had two.

With two on in the bottom of the second, Mark Vientos got the Mets’ offense started, driving an RBI double to left field that scored Jesse Winker, giving the Mets the early lead. Vientos walked in the bottom of the seventh and later scored for his second run.

In the bottom of the third, Francisco Lindor finally hit a long-awaited milestone when he rocketed one out of the stadium for his 100th home run as a Met and extended their lead to 2-0. He then contributed to the huge seventh inning for the Mets, hitting an RBI single to center field that scored Vientos and moved the remaining runners.

As mentioned above, Polar Pete was on display. Alonso was 4-for-4 on the night with three RBIs and a run scored. He singled in the bottom of the second for his first hit of the day, but his offensive explosion ignited with the Mets’ second lead-off dinger of the day in the fourth as he drove one out to left center field. That was his 26th home run of the season. He also had a single in the sixth, along with a big two-RBI double in the seventh that made it a 9-1 Mets lead.

J.D. Martinez, Jesse Winker, Harrison Bader, and Francisco Alvarez contributed with a hit and a run scored as the offense found their groove after a four-game slump. They never looked back after scoring their first run in the second and kept a lead throughout the game. But the seventh inning is when things started clicking, and the offense started to work together as a full unit, almost all contributing in some way in the run or hit column.

Defensively, David Peterson looked excellent on the mound. He threw 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one run (no earned runs) on three hits, and struck out four. He did walk four as well but worked himself out of jams to keep the Mets’ offense in the game before handing the ball over to the bullpen in the seventh.

Huascar Brazobán, Danny Young, and Adam Ottavino combined to close it out for the Mets as they defeated the Athletics 9-1 to snap their four-game losing streak and tie the series at one-a-piece. The rubber match of the series is Thursday.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

The Metsmerized Player of the Game is Pete Alonso for his 4-for-4 night with three RBIs and a run scored, including a home run and two-RBI double.

ON DECK

The Mets and Athletics conclude their series on Thursday afternoon in a 1:10 PM ET matinee at Citi Field in the rubber match of the series. The Mets will look to take a series win when they take the field on Thursday. Mitch Spence (7-8, 4.33 ERA) gets the ball for the Athletics while Jose Quintana (6-8, 4.10 ERA) suits up for the Mets.