The Mets were down to their last strike, but fought back to walk off with a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.
Here are some key takeaways …
– Rich Hill hit Jonathan India to lead off the game (though the pitch barely grazed India’s back leg), but he settled in for a couple innings after that. He and James McCann teamed up for a nice strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play to end the top of the third with the game still scoreless.
– Brandon Drury stayed red-hot in the bottom of the third, stinging an opposite-field double to lead off the inning. Later in the inning, Jonathan Villar broke his bat and dunked a single into left to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
– Eugenio Suarez provided the big blow off of Hill in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs and couple of men on, Suarez demolished a three-run homer to left, putting Cincy up 3-1. The Reds then put runners on second and third with two outs, and pitcher Wade Miley looked to have himself a two-run single, but Dom Smith made a tremendous sliding catch to end the inning.
– The Reds increased their lead against Hill in the fifth, as Kyle Farmer blasted one out to left, taking advantage of a hanging breaking ball and making it a 4-1 Cincinnati lead. Hill’s night ended after five innings, as he allowed four earned on five hits while striking out four and walking one. Hill has allowed seven runs in his first 10 innings as a Met.
– All eyes were on Javier Baez in his Mets debut. On the first pitch he saw, he grounded out to short. His next time up, he went down swinging. But his third time at the plate, Baez provided the energy that he’s known for, as he smashed a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth off Miley to cut the Reds’ lead to 4-3. Villar had been picked off at second base earlier in the inning, or else Baez’s blast would have tied the game.
Baez became the 30th Met to homer in his team debut, and the first since Aaron Altherr in 2019.
– Joey Votto did not homer in his eighth straight game, but he came within a couple feet of doing so in the eighth, slamming a single off the wall that barely missed being a homer. The Reds put two runners on with nobody out off Seth Lugo, but he and Aaron Loup combined to end the inning, with Loup picking off Votto at first (which ended in Farmer being tagged out at home) to retire the side.
– The game stayed 4-3 into the bottom of the ninth. Jeff McNeil led off the inning with a walk, and was replaced on the bases by Luis Guillorme, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Baez struck out on a 3-2 pitch for the first out, and McCann went down swinging for the second out. Sean Doolittle was brought in to face Smith, and with the game on the line, Smith singled on a 1-2 pitch to score Guillorme and tie the game.
– With Edwin Diaz pitching in the top of the 10th, he uncorked a wild pitch (which easily could have been a passed ball on Tomas Nido) before walking Jesse Winker to put runners on the corners with no outs. But Diaz locked in and struck out Farmer and Votto before getting Tyler Naquin to line out to center to get out of the jam.
– In the bottom of the 10th, Drury delivered once again for the Mets, this time with a walk-off single to right to score Pillar and end the game. Drury is now 11-for-15 since his call-up from Triple-A.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Reds close out their series Sunday at 1:10 p.m. on SNY.
Marcus Stroman will take the ball against fellow righty Vladimir Gutierrez.