The New York Mets held on for a tense 5-4 victory over the Reds in Cincinnati on Friday, surviving a ninth-inning scare from Edwin Díaz.
New York jumped ahead in the first inning when Francisco Lindor walked, Juan Soto singled, and Mark Vientos dribbled an RBI hit down the third-base line. Soto then stole third and scored on Brandon Nimmo’s deep sacrifice fly, while Vientos advanced on the play and later scored on Starling Marte’s single. Vientos struck again in the third, launching a 427-foot solo homer to center. Back-to-back doubles from Lindor and Soto in the fourth stretched the lead to 5-1.
Starter David Peterson cruised early but ran into trouble in the fourth. After three straight hits and a sacrifice fly, the Reds trimmed the deficit to 5-4. Peterson lasted 5.1 innings, giving up seven hits and four earned runs.
The Mets’ bullpen steadied things from there. Ryne Stanek wriggled out of a sixth-inning jam, Brooks Raley struck out two in a clean seventh, and Tyler Rogers kept the Reds off the board in the eighth.
That set up a dramatic ninth. Edwin Díaz allowed a leadoff single and two walks to load the bases with nobody out. He responded by striking out Noelvi Marte, freezing Elly De La Cruz with a 99 mph fastball, and covering first base himself on the game-ending groundout for his 26th save.
The victory pushed New York six games ahead of Cincinnati in the wild-card race.
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The Mets (76-55) look to secure a series win on Saturday when rookie Jonah Tong makes his second big-league start against Reds right-hander Brady Singer. The first pitch is slated for 6:40 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].