The Amazin’ Mets kept their winning ways of August and September going in the weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds. After beating the Reds in two of three to take the series, the Mets record stands at 78-65. They are now in better positioning for the playoffs as well, tied with the Braves for the last Wild Card spot.
Congratulations to starting pitcher Jose Quintana. In the win on Saturday, Quintana picked up victory 100 of his major league career. He is the first Colombian pitcher to achieve the feat. In what has been an up and down season for Quintana, he achieved a career milestone in the process as he helps the team along the path to the playoffs.
Francisco Lindor saw his career-high hitting streak end at 16 in the second game of the series. However, he did draw a walk in the game. That drove his streak of consecutive games getting on base to 35. That streak ended in Sunday’s finale, when he held the longest active streak in the major leagues, and set the Mets single-season record. As a further testament to his leadership, even after Sunday’s loss in the series finale, the Mets record stands at 56-31 since Lindor called a team meeting.
On the injury front, the Mets were dealt a huge blow in this series. Jeff McNeil took a pitch off the wrist and after an MRI, it was deemed a fracture. His season, barring a deep playoff run by the Mets, is over. The 2022 NL batting champ, who had a very slow start to the season (as many Mets did), had been a big part of the team’s recent resurgence. He finishes the season with a .238 average, 12 home runs and 44 RBIs. His OPS is .692.
The Reds series did not slow any of the momentum for the Mets. Here is a rundown of the three games:
Game 1: Mets 6, Reds 4
Welcome to the Mark Vientos Show. Vientos had a pair of two-run homers, including the game winner in the bottom of the 10th, to send the Mets to their eighth straight victory. The Mets bullpen pitched very well after the Reds tied the game, keeping Cincinnati hitless through 3.1 innings, to give Vientos the opportunity to win it.
Vientos both started and ended the Mets scoring with two-run home runs. The first was in the bottom of the first inning, and the second in the bottom of the 10th. That put his home run tally for the season at 24. Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez drove in the other runs for New York.
Sean Manaea got the start for the Mets. He went 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on only three hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts. After giving up a home run to tie the game at four, he was relieved by Reed Garrett. Garrett went 1.1 hitless innings, followed by the same over one inning for Edwin Diaz and another hitless inning by Jose Butto. Butto picked up the win, his seventh of the season.
For Cincinnati, the lineup only produced three hits but was quite efficient with them. Elly De La Cruz had a two-run home run in the fourth, and TJ Friedl also had a two-run shot, in the seventh to knock Manaea out of the game. The Reds struck out 15 times against Mets pitching. Jake Fraley was the only starter to not strike out, while Tyler Stephenson, Ty France, and former Met Amed Rosario struck out three times each.
Fernando Cruz got the start for the Reds. Making his third straight appearance as an opener, Cruz only went one inning, and despite three strikeouts he gave up the two runs from the first Vientos home run. Brandon Williamson was up next, going 4.2 innings and giving up one run. Buck Farmer came on next, charged with a run on three hits in only 0.1 innings, then Emilio Pagan went the next one inning, giving up two hits but not being charged with a run. The eighth inning belonged to Tony Santillan, who did not allow a run. Alexis Diaz, Edwin’s brother, pitched a shutout ninth, before Justin Wilson took the loss in the tenth.
Game 2: Mets 4, Reds 0
Quintana pitched well in earning his 100th career win, going into the seventh inning. This is the first time the Mets have won nine straight games since April 2018.
All of the game’s scoring came in the bottom of the sixth inning. Harrison Bader started it with a solo home run. Pete Alonso added an RBI single, and Martinez drove in two with an RBI double. Iglesias was the only Met with multiple hits, a single and a double.
Quintana went 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and two walks with six strikeouts. The win moves his record to 8-9 on the year, with a 4.09 ERA. Adam Ottavino came on to get the last out of the seventh, Danny Young pitched a hitless eighth, and Diaz took the ninth inning to finish it off despite the game not being a save situation.
The Reds scattered six hits throughout the game. Santiago Espinal had a multi-hit game, and Stephenson had a double. De La Cruz struck out three times, going hitless in four at-bats.
Jakob Junis started for Cincinnati. He went five innings, allowing only one hit and one walk, with five strikeouts. Sam Moll came on next, not getting any outs, but being charged with three runs on one hit. Carson Spiers went the final three innings, charged with a run on four hits.
Game 3: Reds 3, Mets 1
The Reds took the series finale, ending the Mets winning streak at nine, and snapping Lindor’s on-base streak. Espinal put the Reds ahead to stay with a double in the ninth to drive in two.
The Mets only generated four hits in total for the game, all singles. Two of those hits came from Bader. It is safe to say his slump is over. Iglesias and Starling Marte had the other hits for New York.
Luis Severino had another strong start, which is encouraging for both the team and him this late in the season. Severino went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Garrett retired all four batters, with three strikeouts, over his 1.1 innings. Phil Maton came on in the ninth, and ended up taking the loss, giving up two runs over 0.2 innings. Alex Young came on to finish off the last 0.1 inning.
For the Reds, despite not making contact again, they did enough to generate three runs. Espinal and France each had two hits. Other than Espinal’s two RBIs, the only Reds run was driven in by Noelvi Marte. The Reds struck out 12 times, with three by Marte, and two each by Jonathan India, Espinal, and Will Benson.
The Reds starter was Julian Aguiar, who threw 90 pitches over 4.2 innings. He did not allow a run and only yielded two hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. Tony Santillan went the next inning, charge with the only run of the game for Cincinnati’s pitchers. Pagan took the next 0.1 inning, Wilson a shutout inning, and a shutout eighth for Farmer to pick up the win. Diaz pitched the ninth for his 26th save of the year.
Up Next
The Mets are right back at it, starting a three-game series on Monday in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Paul Blackburn is scheduled to start the first game for the Mets, as he returns from injury. He is set to be followed by David Peterson in the second game, and Manaea in the third. New York will need to be careful to not look past the Blue Jays, anticipating the following three-game series in Philadelphia against the first-place Phillies.
Photo Credit; Fingerlakes1.com
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