Mets Salvage Win, 3-2, with Smart Baserunning, Small Ball

Mets 3 Reds 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 56-44

Mets streak: Won 1

Last 10: 4-6

WP - Edwin Diaz (5-0)

LP - Brent Suter (1-1)

SV -Ryne Stanek (2)

Seat on the Korner: David Peterson

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

Solidifying his status as the Mets' ace and stopper, David Peterson gave the team just what it needed: quality AND length. Of course, it didn't look like it at the start: The first three batters got on, admittedly two by an error and a bleeder hit, but with a run in, two on and nobody out, the dark clouds were starting to hover over Citi Field. Peterson settled down, stopped the bleeding (helped by a ground ball double play) and went on to notch six quality innings, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. The final line: six innings, four hits, four strikeouts, no earned runs. He left after 91 pitches and at least this observer would have been tempted to leave him in. After all, shouldn't you ride your ace as far as you can, especially in a game you really need? Well, at least he had a chance to shower before sitting down with Ralph and talk about what became a real nailbiter.

Need to Know

• Pete Alonso was out of the starting lineup for the first time in more than a year and risked ending his 353 consecutive games played streak, the result of a bruise near his right thumb when he was hit by a pitch in Saturday's game. Alonso got treatment on the hand and reported to manager Carlos Mendoza that he felt better than he did Saturday. So much better that he came into the game as a defensive replacement (you read that right) in the seventh. At least some of us breathed a sigh of relief because....

• Mark Vientos got the start at first and was tested early, showing his defensive deficiencies on the first play. TJ Friedl hit a ground ball to second baseman Luisangel Acuna, who uncorked a somewhat errant throw that Alonso would have handled, but Vientos didn't. Matt McClain then hit a bleeder into the hole between Acuna and Vientos that neither could handle. Later, though, Vientos managed to keep his toe on the bag -- barely -- to complete a double play off Austin Hays' bat. But he nevertheless looked shaky throughout his six innings in the field.

• The Mets are now 10-0 in David Peterson's Citi Field starts this season, second only to the 11-0 mark the Mets posted in David Cone's 1989 streak to start a year. Five of those wins were credited to Peterson, who was 5-0, with a 2.11 ERA in the first nine starts.

• Despite the two losses to the Reds to start the series, the Mets still hold the the best home record in the NL (34-16) and the second best in the majors.

• The Reds' win Saturday was their 16th comeback victory since June 1, the most by any major league team over that span. .

• With his RBI single in the third, Brandon Nimmo has reached base in 14 straight games. Over that span, he is hitting .321 with 12 runs, three doubles, three homers, 11 RBI.

• Francisco Lindor continued his slump. He is now 0-for-22, and avoided going 0-for-5 for the fourth straight game only because he didn't have a fifth at-bat.

• The Angels come to town Monday for a three-game series. Kodai Senga makes his first post-all star break start, facing the Halos' Tyler Anderson.

Turning Point

If there is one thing we have learned about Juan Soto since we've been seeing him every day as a Met, it is that he is a smart ballplayer who can beat you even when he isn't hitting balls against or over the fences. Soto's baserunnng acumen was on display in the bottom of the eighth. After walking and taking third on a Jeff McNeil double, he studied reliever Brent Suter's delivery and built up such a significant secondary lead that when he went on contact as Luis Torrens hit a ground ball to a drawn-in second baseman Matt McClain, Soto scored the winning run. And it wasn't even close.

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Three Keys

Small ball? Yes!

When you're not hitting, especially with runners in scoring position, you have to try different things to manufacture runs, and in the case of this game, the Mets played small ball -- and it worked. For the first time since 2009 they sacrificed twice in the first three innings, producing a run in the third after a Brandon Nimmo single. In the fifth, Brett Baty stole second to put himself in scoring position to he could score on Luisangel Acuna's double. And in the eighth...well, you've already read what happened. The bottom line was: three runs despite still going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. And, of course, the win.

The Trumpets Play Flat

How much did manger Carlos Mendoza feel he needed the win? So much so that he brought in closer Edwin Diaz for a potential four-out save with one on and two out. It made sense: have your best face their best. But Diaz was not sharp. He walked Elly DeLaCruz, the Reds's best hitter, and gave up an infield single to Austin Hays to load the bases. Diaz then proceeded to hit Spencer Steer, bringing in the tying run. Diaz struck out Tyler Stephenson to end the inning, but the net result was still Diaz' second blown save of the year. Strsngely, just as happened on June 2 against the Dodgers, Diaz was credited with the win.

Stanek to the Rescue

With Edwin Diaz looking shaky in the eighth, manager Carlos Mendoza turned to Ryne Stanek, of all people, for the save. And Stanek rose to the occasion, giving up a two-out single before ending the game on a pop fly to second baseman Luisangel Acuna. If there is a positive takeway from a disappointing weekend, it is that some of the relievers who had been shaky before the all-star break pitched well in this series, including a no-walk, no-run seventh by Huascar Brazoban in this game.