A's visit Mets, strive to take another bite out of Big Apple after blanking Yankees

One run on Thursday afternoon was enough for the Athletics to earn a win and begin pondering what they're capable of this season.

A few hours later, one run was not nearly enough to earn a victory for the New York Mets, who were left to wonder if they had erased the progress they seemingly made just days earlier.

The Athletics will look for a third consecutive victory Friday night when they visit the Mets in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

J.T. Ginn (0-0, 5.14 ERA) is slated to start for the Athletics against Clay Holmes (2-0, 1.42 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.

The A's won the rubber game of a three-game series Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium as Jeffrey Springs and two relievers combined on a one-hitter in a 1-0 victory.

At Citi Field, the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks scored all of their runs in the seventh and eighth innings Thursday night as they earned a series win by beating the Mets 7-1 in the finale of a three-game set.

In the A's-Yankees game, the flirtation with a no-hitter -- Ben Rice ended Springs' bid with a one-out single in the seventh -- capped an encouraging series for the Athletics, who won the final two games of the series after squandering an eighth-inning lead in a 5-3 loss Tuesday.

Rice's hit was just the second since the first inning Wednesday for the Yankees, who were blanked by the Athletics over the final 17 frames.

The series win was the second straight following a 1-5 start for the Athletics, who took two of three games last weekend from an American League West rival, the Houston Astros.

"It was great -- it was kind of what we came here to do," A's first baseman Nick Kurtz said. "Now we have three more in New York. Now we want to do the same thing. We started off the year not great and we knew what we could do. And I feel like we're showing it."

The Mets thought they might be showing their capabilities when they outscored the Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants 28-8 during a four-game winning streak. But Arizona outscored New York a combined 14-3 on Wednesday and Thursday, days when the Mets were a combined 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position while leaving 15 on base.

Luis Robert Jr.'s first-inning homer accounted for the only offense Thursday, when the Mets wasted another strong start by rookie Nolan McLean. The right-hander allowed two runners to reach base with one out in the seventh inning, and reliever Luke Weaver let both inherited runners score and was charged with two runs himself.

"It happens, but you've got to move on," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "You take the positive, and that was Nolan today."

Ginn, who will make his first start of the season for the A's, last pitched Sunday when he gave up two runs over 1 1/3 innings in his team's 12-10, 10-inning win over the Astros.

Ginn won his lone previous appearance against the Mets last April 12, when he won his season debut by allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings in the Athletics' 3-1 victory.

Holmes earned the win last Saturday for the Mets after tossing seven scoreless innings in a 9-0 victory over the Giants. He is 0-0 with an 0.00 ERA and three saves in six relief appearances against the A's.

--Field Level Media