It looked as if the New York Mets were about to drop two of three to the Cincinnati Reds, but the offense woke up late, and the Mets picked up an 8-3 victory in 10 innings on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.
With New York trailing 3-2 in the ninth inning, Starling Marte came to the plate with a runner on first and grounded one down the left-field line for a game-tying double. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso were unable to bring Marte home, but reliever Adam Ottavino tossed a scoreless bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
With the automatic runner at second in the 10th, the red-hot Dominic Smith grounded one through the right side for an RBI double to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, James McCann, who has been struggling at the plate as of late, lined a two-out RBI single into left field to extend the lead to 5-3. Brandon Nimmo broke the game open with a three-run home run, his seventh of the season, making it 8-3. Nimmo’s homer capped off a five-run inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Edwin Díaz struck out the side in a non-save situation to secure the victory.
Before the ninth, the Mets had 11 hits but just two runs. Jeff McNeil and Tomas Nido each had run-scoring singles.
David Peterson started on the bump for New York and surrendered three runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings while walking five and striking out seven. The left-hander struggled with his control. Adonis Medina followed Peterson in relief and fired three shutout innings. Colin Holderman also had a scoreless appearance.
The Mets will head home for a four-game series against the Miami Marlins, which will begin on Thursday night. Trevor Williams will get the ball for New York. The first pitch is slated for 7:10 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].