A host of injuries to starting pitchers has not slowed down the Mets’ staff, which held opponents to a total of two runs over the course of the club’s three straight wins.Bartolo Colon was the star in the series opener on Labor Day, tossing six scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory that gave NY 12 consecutive wins over the Reds and kept the Mets one game behind St. Louis in the race for the second wild card in the National League.
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Jay Bruce clarified the recent controversy saying that, while NY was not on his list of teams, he was happy to be there. They now sit less than two games out of the postseason and need Bruce to be the hitter he was for the Reds if they want a legitimate shot in the postseason this year. “We’re used to September by now”.
Cincinnati Reds’ Hernan Iribarren slides safely into third for a triple off New York Mets starting pitcher Rafael Montero in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, in Cincinnati. DeSclafani has had a strong year thus far, going 8-2 in 16 starts with a 1.14 WHIP and 2.93 ERA.
The righty did not produce a clean inning, but held the Reds 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. “That was great. A lot of fun”. Reynolds added an RBI single in a three-run seventh.
“The Reds came to me very early in the process and asked me where I wanted to go and I gave them three places I wanted to go and NY wasn’t one of them”, he said. “(The seventh) inning was a big inning for him. “You think he’s going to hit it out”. Unfortunately, Montero relinquished the lead in the bottom of the third by allowing a two-run home run to Adam Duvall. It was his first home run since August 29 and the first in 23 at-bats. The 30-year-old slugger has been dealing with a quad ailment over the second half of the season, but he has notched six home runs in 15 contests (63 plate appearances) after a stint on the disabled list.
Mets RF Jay Bruce singled in four at-bats.
Cespedes said the run is beginning to trigger flashbacks to 2015, when the Mets pulled off a similar turnaround and made it all the way to the World Series. “And they did both of those two against us”. The Mets began the day just one game back of St. Louis for the second NL wild card.
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It’s Cespedes who deserves the most credit – and will get the most credit this winter, some way, somehow, some employer – for the Mets (73-66) owning a four-game winning streak and a 13-4 run. Montero’s final line of 4.1 innings, 4-4 K-BB, and three runs allowed is uninspiring, and makes one yearn for Jacob deGrom to return healthy. Back on June 16, Granderson hit his 17th leadoff home run with NY off Pittsburgh Pirates’ hurler Juan Nicasio, setting a new Mets’ franchise mark. The day after the Mets clinched their first division title since 2006, Collins sat virtually all of his starters – he even used Johnson at shortstop – and still came away with an 8-1 win.
