Mets 4, Reds 0 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets Record: 78-64
Mets Streak: W9
Mets Last 10: 9-1
WP: Jose Quintana (8-9) LP: Sam Moll (3-2)
Seat On The Korner: Jose Quintana
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Today's Seat On The Korner goes to Mets starting pitcher, Jose Quintana. The 35 year-old lefty threw a sparkling 6.2 shutout innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts en route to earning his 100th career victory. Quintana has now gone three starts in a row without allowing more than one earned run.
Need To Know
The start of the game was delayed by rain for 1 hour and 6 minutes.
The win was the Mets 9th in-a-row. It's their first 9-game winning streak since April of 2018.
Jose Quintana is the first Colombian-born pitcher with 100 career victories.
With his walk in the 6th inning, Francisco Lindor extended his on-base streak to 35 games, a new Mets single season record (besting Pete Alonso's 34 games in 2019. John Olerud still holds the overall team record with 47, which he accomplished from the end of the 1998 season into the 1999 season.
Lindor did not get a hit, however, so his hitting streak ended at 16.
Prior to the game, the Mets announced that Jeff McNeil fractured his wrist when he was hit by a pitch in the 5th inning of Friday night's game. He will be out the next 4-6 weeks which translates to the rest of the regular season and much, if not all, of the postseason, if that becomes a thing.
With the Atlanta Braves loss to the Toronto Blue Jays tonight, the Mets took over sole possession of the final National League wild card spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres both lost as well, so the Mets are now a half game out of the second spot, and 2 games out of the top spot.
The Mets will go for the series sweep (their third straight sweep) on Sunday with a 1:40 start. Luis Severino will take the mound for the Amazins against young righty Julian Aguilar who will be making his 5th career start.
Turning Point
After having virtually no success against Reds starter Jacob Junis through the first 5 innings, Harrison Bader greeted reliever Sam Moll with a home run on his second pitch to lead off the sixth inning. Bader's 11th HR of the season put an end to his 0-15 slump, while putting the Mets up 1-0.
Three Keys
Double Your Pleasure
Jeff McNeil's injury will likely mean more playing time for infielder Jose Iglesias. He and Francisco Lindor took advantage of the opportunity by turning a sparkling double play in the top of the second inning. With a leadoff runner on first base, Reds first baseman Ty France hit a grounder to Iglesias' left. The second baseman dove to grab the ball and then threw from his knees to get the out at second. Lindor quickly turned the ball over to first to barely get a hustling France.
The duo did it again the next inning. This time, the leadoff runner was on first and Reds second baseman Jonathan India was at the plate. He hit a hard grounder to the shortstop hole. Lindor snagged it, fired quickly to Iglesias at second and then on to Alonso at first for a smooth-looking 6-4-3 DP.
Feeling Bullish About the Pen
Once again, the Mets starting pitcher was able to go deep in the game, and once again, the bullpen was able to finish what he started. Tonight it took Adam Ottavino, Danny Young, and Edwin Diaz to keep the Reds off the board. The trio pitched 2.1 innings, striking out 4, and just 1 hit allowed.
Thick in the Middle
The Mets got help from the middle of the lineup when sluggers Pete Alonso and J.D. Martinez provided some big hits of their own to turn the game from a tight 1-0 lead to a more comfortable 4-0 advantage. Alonso, whose struggles with runners in scoring position this season have been well-documented, drove in Lindor with the Mets second run of the game.
Martinez, in only his second game since returning from paternity leave, hit a 2-out 2-run double to give the Mets some extra breathing room.
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