The hitters, though, were carrying bats to home plate for no apparent reason. The team batting average was lower than the team ERA, .173.
And that’s the way it played out. The Mets received great pitching but little hitting, only four hits, but it was enough to beat the Reds, 3-2.
Another error by Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz permitted the go-ahead run in the seventh and an insurance home run in the eighth by Jeff McNeil off Emilio Pagan were the deciding factors.
Mets starter Jose Quintana pitched good enough to win most games, but Reds starter Hunter Greene applied a silencer to New York’s already quiet bats. But he couldn’t finish, and the bullpen gave it up.
Greene hit leadoff hitter Francisc Lindor with his second pitch of the game and gave up a two-out single to Brett Baty.
Then he retired 10 in row until he walked Tyrone Taylor leading off the fifth. And it put him in heated water. Harrison Bader pushed a single to right and Greene hit No. 9 hitter D.J. Stewart with a pitch.
That filled the bases with one out and brought up Lindor, 1-for-25 on the season. And he stayed at 1-for-25 because he popped a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game, 1-1.
Greene pitched six innings and gave up one run and three hits with one walk and six strikeouts. . .and got nothing but another no-decision.
Quintana entered the game with a license to embarrass the Reds — 2-0 over his last 35 innings against them, giving up only five runs while walking four and striking out 25.
Reds left fielder Spencer Steer was not impressed. Batting second, Steer reversed Quintana’s full-count fastball over the left field wall for a quick 1-0 Cincinnati first-inning lead.
The Reds made Quintana work. He went to 3-and-2 counts on five of the first 11 batters, including Speer’s home run. But the Reds couldn’t find home plate through the next seven innings, despite seven hits and five walks.
Luke Maile and Jonathan India hit back-to-back singles to open the fifth, but it led to zero. Steer lined to third, Christian Encarnacion-Strand lined to center and Jeimer Candelario grounded out hard to third, leaving it at 1-1.
Quintana went to 3-and-2 on two more Reds in the sixth and issued a pair of two-out walks to Santiago Espinal and Will Benson. That ended Quintana’s evening and he gave way to Drew Smith.
Catcher Francisco Alvarez tried to pick off Espinal and second baseman Jeff McNeil was called for obstruction, blocking the base with his leg. Espinal was awarded third base, but Maile popped out.
Fernando Cruz replaced Greene in the seventh and he issued a one-out four-pitch walk to Bader. And he promptly stole second. Then Cruz also walked Stewart.
He quickly fell 2-and-0 behind Lindor and pitching coach Derek Johnson paid him a calm down visit. Whatever he said went in one ear and out the other. He walked Lindor to fill the bases and bring up the ultra-dangerous Pete Alonso.
Alonso grounded up the middle and shortstop De La Cruz couldn’t get the ball out of his glove — a bad habit for him lately — and everybody was safe on the error, including Bader at home for a 2-1 Mets lead.
Cruz struck out Alvarez for the second out. He went to 3-and-2, the count of the day, and Baty lined to shortstop, enabling Cruz to escape with one run.
Drama surfaced in the seventh when India singled for the third straight time and Candelario ripped a two-out double. Pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson walked on — what else? — a full count.
That filled the bases for De La Cruz and he never took the bat off his shoulder, taking three strikes.
The Mets added a run in the eighth when McNeil launched a two-out 385-foot home run into the right field moon deck off Pagan, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.
The Reds nearly made another comeback, another walk-off win, in the bottom of the ninth against Mets closer Edwin Diaz, older brother to Reds close Alexis Diaz.
It began with Diaz booting a soft ground ball hit by India. Diaz walked Steer, putting runners on second and first with no outs.
Encarnacion-Strand appeared to hit into a double play, but Mets shortstop Lindor missed touching the bag and pinch-runner Bubba Thompson was ruled safe, while CES was out at first.
That put runners on third and second with one out. Candelario hit a sacrifice fly to right and it was 3-2. Thompson took third on a wild pitch, 90 feet away from tying the game.
The count, of course, went to 3-and-2 on Jake Fraley, the 10th full count of the night for Reds hitters, but Fraley swung and missed a 90 miles an hour slider to end it.
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