OAKLAND, Calif. — Just lose, baby.
In their first return in nine years to the monstrosity formerly known as the Oakland Coliseum, the Mets showed they can hit as poorly against good teams as bad ones.
After a brutal offensive series against the lowly Cubs, the Mets went meekly in a 6-2 loss to the Athletics that ran their losing streak to three and pushed them nine games below .500 for the first time since the All-Star break.
Wilmer Flores’ leadoff double in the seventh inning gave the Mets their fifth hit, snapping a five-game streak in which they finished with four hits or fewer. No major league team has gone six straight games with four hits or fewer since 1900.
But getting to five hits — they finished with seven — was about all the Mets (59-68) had to celebrate on a night Scott Kazmir and the Oakland bullpen were in control.
“We’ve got to certainly put together more than two hits in an inning,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve got to get some stuff going.”
Collins tinkered with the lineup, moving Juan Lagares to leadoff and dropping Curtis Granderson to second, but the move paid no dividends.
It won’t get any easier for the Mets over their next two games. Jeff Samardzija is scheduled to pitch for the Athletics on Wednesday before Clayton Kershaw gets the ball for the home team at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
The Athletics (74-51) snapped a five-game losing streak and remained a half-game behind the Angels in a heated AL West battle. The Mets fell to 8-8 against AL teams and have lost three of four games in this ballpark since the start of interleague play. Josh Reddick delivered the dagger with a two-run homer against Gonzalez Germen in the eighth.
Dillon Gee (4-6) lasted 5 ²/₃ innings in which he surrendered four runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The right-hander was solid except for a fourth inning in which the Athletics sent eight batters to the plate and scored four runs.
“I lost command of my breaking ball there for a couple of innings and it really hurt me,” Gee said.
Since the All-Star break, Gee is 0-5 with a 5.71 ERA. In five of those seven starts, he has allowed at least four earned runs.
“I walked less guys and didn’t give up a home run, so that was a positive,” Gee said.
The lefty Kazmir was dreadful against the Mets in a June 24 start at Citi Field, when he allowed seven runs over three innings, but rebounded Tuesday.
Kazmir’s only blemish was the opposite-field homer he allowed to Travis d’Arnaud leading off the fourth after falling behind 3-1 in the count.
Anthony Recker’s RBI double in the seventh against Ryan Cook pulled the Mets within 4-2, but Lagares and Granderson struck out in succession to kill the rally.
“It’s been a rough stretch for a little bit, but that’s baseball,” d’Arnaud said.
Coco Crisp’s three-run triple in the fourth gave the Athletics a 4-1 lead and put Gee on the brink of removal. Gee walked the No. 9 hitter, Eric Sogard, to load the bases for the second time in the inning before Crisp hit a shot that hugged the right-field line for three runs.
Gee’s first walk in the inning had loaded the bases for Alberto Callaspo, whose sacrifice fly made it 1-1. An inning earlier, Gee loaded the bases by allowing three singles before striking out Josh Donaldson to end the threat.
D’Arnaud’s homer gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was d’Arnaud’s fourth homer in his last 12 games and gave him eight since his recall from Triple-A Las Vegas on June 24.
Eric Campbell and Ruben Tejada each singled in the second, but Kazmir got Recker to hit into an inning-ending double play.