Untimely Wildness By Reds Pitchers Lead To Loss

  

New York Mets pitching stranded 12 Reds base runners and eeked out a 3-2 win in the first game of the three-game series.

A wild Fernando Cruz walked three batters to allow the visitors to take a slim lead. Reds pitchers gave up just four hits but walked five and hit two batters.

Meanwhile the Reds were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.  The Mets were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position but scored on two outs.

"There are many things that happen in the end game. We came up short. A lot of times in those situations they (Mets pitchers) made pitches," David Bell said.

Spencer Steer got the Reds off to a quick start with his second home run of the season in the first inning. Steer started the game with a .435 average.

Greene hit Francisco Lindor to start the game and gave up a handle hit double to Brett Bady that barely hit the chalk on the third base line in the first inning. He retired 10 straight after that until he suffered a wild streak in th fifth. Greene walked Tyrone Taylor. Harrison Bader grounded a single into right field, then DJ Stewart to load the bases. Lindor's sacrifice fly tied the score.

"Hunter just keeps getting better," Bell said. "Strikes are definitely a key for sure. He has that kind of stuff that you can trust in the zone. He is going to get better and better as he fine tunes his pitches." 

Greene pitched six innings, allowing a run on three hits, a walk and two hit batters.

"I've been watching Frankie (Montas) in his last two starts, listening to him speak while we've been on the bench. He's not a big strikeout guy but he gets ahead and puts guys away," Greene said.

Fernando Cruz started the seventh and walked three straight batters in front of power hitter Pete Alonso. Alonso hit a ground ball up the middle that Elly De La Cruz reached but his errant flip toss pulled Jonathan India off second base. De La Cruz drew his third error in three games. Bader scored the go-ahead run.  

"He (Cruz) was just missing with his fastball last week early in the count. They (Mets hitters) did a good job of taking those pitches," Bell said.

Emilio Pagan allowed Jeff McNeil's first home run of the season in the eighth.

Edwin Diaz finished a tense ninth inning to get the save. He is the brother of the Reds' Alexis Diaz.

They have a bet that which ever team wins the game, buys the whole family dinner.