Jul 20, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor (15) scores a run during the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
QUEENS, NY — Noelvi Marte’s ball flew deep to center field. The sellout crowd of 42,981 at Citi Field groaned. Their New York Mets needed this one. It would come down to the wire.
The ball stayed in the park. Queens exhaled. The Mets’ 3–2 lead was preserved. Two more outs were all they needed.
Jake Fraley got on with a single to left. Gavin Lux barely beat out a double play. It just continued.
Finally, Ryne Stanek shut the door as he got TJ Friedl to pop out. The Mets’ three-game losing streak was over with a slim, nail-biting one-run win in the series finale against Cincinnati.
Mets bring home winning run in 8th inning rally
The game was tied in the bottom of the eighth, courtesy of Edwin Diaz’s hitting Spencer Steer with a pitch in the top half of the inning with the bases loaded.
Juan Soto walked. Jeff McNeil doubled to the right-center gap to put runners on second and third with one out for Luis Torrens. Torrens hit a sharp ground ball to Reds’ second baseman Matt McLain, and reached on a fielder’s choice. He scored Soto.
That was all the Mets (56-44) would manage. Pete Alonso and Tyrone Taylor both struck out in the frame, and Brett Baty popped out. But they’ll take it. On Sunday, one run made all the difference.
Mets rely on small ball, pick their spots against Abbott
The Mets’ star-studded lineup, composed of multiple capable power hitters, managed just one extra base hit against Reds All-Star starter Andrew Abbott. It gave them their first lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Brett Baty had singled to lead off the inning. He stole second base and was in scoring position for Luisangel Acuña. Acuña got hold of an 88.3-mph cutter on the bottom inside corner of the strike zone and drove it to left field. The ball bounced off the wall behind Reds left fielder Connor Joe. He scored Baty and gave the Mets a 2–1 lead.
The Mets, who entered Sunday on a three-game slide and having dropped 20 out of their last 30 games, faced one of Cincinnati’s best pitchers in Abbott, who entered Sunday with an 8–1 record and a 2.07 ERA — the third-lowest by a Reds pitcher through his first 16 starts of the season. Abbott only trails Johnny Cueto in this metric, who achieved this feat twice.
Abbott was coming off a 13-pitch, perfect inning outing in his first career All-Star game. Despite allowing six hits, he limited the Mets to just two runs (both earned).
The Mets played small ball to advance their runners. In the bottom of the second, Jeff McNeil advanced Mark Vientos to second with a sacrifice bunt. They left him stranded. The next inning, Acuña did the same to put Tyrone Taylor in scoring position. Brandon Nimmo capitalized with an RBI single to right to tie the game at one.
Pete Alonso keeps his streak alive
Pete Alonso was held out of the starting lineup Sunday — the first time this has happened since May 30, 2024.
Had Alonso not appeared in the game, his franchise record of 353 consecutive games played would have ended.
This became a moot point after Alonso replaced Mark Vientos at first base ahead of the seventh inning. The streak remains alive
Alonso was subbed into his usual first base position for the top of the seventh.
In a stretch where New York’s power bats have gone quiet, Sunday was a refreshing sight of the Mets’ ability to work the opposing club’s pitchers and defense to advance runners and pick their spots for clutch hits.
Baseballs don’t always fly out of Citi Field. The Mets, through stretches like this, must continue to find ways to score. Their lineup is too talented for anything else to be acceptable.
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