The Cincinnati Reds came to New York fresh off of a 3-game sweep of the Houston Astros and found themselves in extra-innings to open up the series against the Mets – winners of seven games in a row. After the Reds failed to score in the top of the 10th the bullpen would give up a walk-off home run to the first batter of the bottom of the frame to drop the series opener 6-4.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Mets (77-64) |
4 | 3 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (68-74) | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Butto (7-3) L: Wilson (1-5) |
|||
| Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Fernando Cruz started the game for the Reds, working as an opener against the Mets. The plan didn’t go as hoped as Francisco Lindor began the bottom of the 1st inning with a single and then scored when Mark Vientos hit a 2-run homer. That’s where the score remained until the top of the 4th when Jonathan India led off with a walk and came around to score on a game tying home run by Elly De La Cruz.
Brandon Williamson, who took over for the Reds in the 2nd inning, had been cruising along but with two outs in the bottom of the 6th inning he gave up a double to Pete Alonso. The Reds went to their bullpen to bring in Buck Farmer to try and get out of the jam. He didn’t, giving up back-to-back RBI singles that put the Mets back in front 4-2.
The score didn’t stay there for too long. Spencer Steer would draw a 1-out walk in the top of the 7th and then score on a 2-run home run by TJ Friedl that tied the game right back up. New York would threaten in the bottom of the inning, getting two men on, but Emilio Pagan came through by getting a groundout to end the threat.
Neither team would do anything in the 8th inning, and the Reds couldn’t get anything going in the 9th, either. After Edwin Diaz shut down the Reds in the top of the inning, Cincinnati sent Alexis Diaz to the mound in the bottom of the inning. He hit Francisco Alvarez with a pitch, but he got the next two hitters out to send the game into extra-innings.
The Reds went down in order and couldn’t even move their “free runner” over. Justin Wilson took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 10th and he had an 8-pitch battle with Mark Vientos to begin the inning, but that 8th pitch was crushed into the seats in left field for his second 2-run homer of the game and for a walk-off winner for the Mets.
Key Moment of the Game
The walk-off home run for Mark Vientos.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz tied the franchise record for home home runs in a season by a switch hitter with 23. Felipe Lopez also had 23 home runs back in 2006.
Tony Santillan threw a perfect 8th inning. His ERA is down to 2.05 in 22.0 innings. He’s given up just 11 hits, walked seven batters, and has 35 strikeouts.
The Reds had just three hits on the day. They struck out 15 times.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs New York Mets
Saturday September 7th, 4:10pm ET
Jakob Junis (4-0, 3.13 ERA) vs Jose Quintana (7-9, 4.27 ERA)
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