Edwin Diaz, Mets escape bases loaded trouble in ninth to beat Reds, 5-4

The Mets almost let one slip away but were able to squeak past the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, winning by a score of 5-4.

Here are the takeaways…

-New York got out to an early lead against Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott, scoring three times in the first inning thanks to some soft hits and heads up baserunning. Francisco Lindor began the inning with a walk and Juan Soto stayed scorching hot with a single to put runners at the corners. After Pete Alonso struck out, Mark Vientos nubbed one down the third base line that stayed fair and scored the game's first run. 

Following two pickoffs in Detroit, Soto was back on his horse and caught Abbott and the Reds napping by stealing third base to add to his career-high (28). That proved important on the next batter as Brandon Nimmo's 395-foot flyout that was robbed at the wall by TJ Friedl brought home Soto who tagged up. 

Also tagging up and going to second on the home-run robbing catch was Vientos who is not known for his speed or baserunning. The heads up play paid off in the end as Starling Marte kept the line moving by dunking one into right field to score the third run of the inning — already more runs than Abbott allowed in his first meeting with the Mets on July 20 at Citi Field when he limited New York to two runs over six innings.

-In the midst of a great season but scuffling lately, Abbott, who hasn't recorded a win since July 9, finished with another clunker. The left-hander allowed five earned runs on nine hits, a walk and a HBP and left after 4.2 innings.

-Of the nine hits allowed by Abbott was Vientos' mammoth solo blast to lead off the third inning. The home run, which traveled 427 feet to center field, was Vientos' seventh homer in his last 13 games to give him 16 big flys on the season. After a lengthy slump to begin the season following his breakout year in 2024, Vientos has broken out, looking more and more like the player the Mets relied upon so heavily last season, especially in the playoffs.

Getting an increasingly rare start at third base, Vientos also made some nice plays and showed off his strong arm at the hot corner with ground ball pitcher David Peterson on the mound.

-Speaking of Peterson, the left-hander was given a three-run lead before even stepping onto the mound and looked good in the first few innings by getting soft contact on the ground which is his bread and butter. 

Hoping to get past his worst outing of the season in which he allowed eight earned runs in two innings against the Miami Marlins at home, Peterson looked on track to do so but he ran into trouble in the fourth inning. Having already allowed a run in the previous inning, Peterson gave up three consecutive hits (two singles and a double) that brought home two more. The third run of the inning came around to score on a sacrifice fly and just like that, New York's lead shriveled to one run.

Peterson bounced back in the fifth to retire the side in order, but a single and a walk bracketing a strikeout to begin the sixth was it for the left-hander. His final line: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K on 91 pitches (62 strikes).

-In to clean up Peterson's traffic jam, Ryne Stanek was the first out of the bullpen and struck out his first batter, although a passed ball on strike three by Francisco Alvarez advanced the runners. A walk loaded the bases, but Stanek would end the inning by striking out Matt McLain on three pitches.

-Up to the bullpen in a 5-4 game, Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless seventh for the Mets which included two strikeouts before Tyler Rogers pitched around a leadoff hit in the eighth. With New York unable to add an insurance run against the Reds bullpen, Edwin Diaz entered the bottom of the ninth tasked to protect a one-run lead. 

The closer put himself in instant danger by allowing a leadoff single and walking the next two batters to load the bases with nobody out. Diaz came back to strike out Noelvi Marte for the first out and then, after a cleat malfunction caused a strange delay, he froze Elly De La Cruz on a 99 mph fastball for the second out. For his final trick, Diaz got Gavin Lux to groundout to second base and with Alonso diving to try and make the play, Diaz covered the bag and beat Lux to first base for the final out of the game to secure his 26th save of the season.

-In his return to the lineup despite a torn ligament in his thumb and a broken pinky, Alvarez finished 1-for-4, singling in his first at-bat.

-Back-to-back two-out doubles by Lindor and Soto in the fourth inning produced New York's last run of the game and proved to be the difference. Lindor was on base in all five of his plate appearances and scored two runs while Soto went 2-for-4 with a walk, run and RBI. 

-With the Reds one of the teams vying to take over the Mets for the third Wild Card spot, New York is now six games in front of Cincinnati who dropped to 70-71.

Game MVP: Edwin Diaz

Diaz pulled a Houdini act after loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning to notch the save and give the Mets a win in the series opener.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Reds continue their three-game series on Saturday with a 6:40 p.m. start time on SNY.

RHP Jonah Tong (1-0, 1.80 ERA) makes his second career start and will oppose RHP Brady Singer (12-9, 4.08 ERA).

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