Second verse not the same as the first: Reds play Tong-Ball en route to victory

Reds 6 Mets 3 (Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH)

Mets record: 76-66

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP - Brady Singer (13-9)

LP - Jonah Tong (1-1)

Seat on the Korner:

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.

Brady Singer might not have been spectacular, but he was very good against a Mets offense that had been raking. Singer went six innings and gave up four hits and four walks with five strikeouts, but the key stat was that he only gave up one run in a 6-3 Reds victory.

Need to Know

• With the loss and the Phillies victory, the Mets are now 7 games behind the division lead. The Cardinals 9th inning comeback over the Giants means that the Mets remain 4 games ahead in the face for the final wild card spot.

• Jonah Tong went six innings in his second major league start, giving up four runs all brought in by three home runs. Those were the only hits he gave up on the night, and he also walked four batters. Tong also struck out six.

• One of those home runs was by Sal Stewart, his first HR in the majors.

• Ryne Stanek relieved Tong and gave up two runs on three hits in a third of an inning before being relieved by Kevin Herget.

• Francisco Lindor reached base in his first three appearances tonight to extend his streak to 10. It's a career high for Lindor and ties Kyle Stowers for the longest on base streak (at-bats) in the majors this season.

• Lindor would end up with three hits, including two doubles.

• Lindor was caught stealing in the 5th inning by Jose Trevino. It was the first time a catcher has thrown out a Mets baserunner trying to steal since May 20th.

• Lindor was caught stealing twice tonight ... he's the first Met to get caught twice in a game since Jonathan Villar in 2021.

• Brandon Nimmo went 0-for-3 and saw his hit streak end at 11 games.

• Jared Young hit his first home run since his recall in the 7th to bring the Mets to 4-2.

Turning Point

There were some points in the game that might have tilted the game in the Mets' favor (which we'll get into later here), but in a game in which the Reds took the early lead and never looked back, let's spotlight the first major league home run for Sal Stewart, a two run shot to give the Reds the lead ... surprisingly for good.

Three Keys

Tong Ball

The Reds did their homework on Jonah Tong in time for his second major league start, and they went fastball hunting.

Those pitches to Sal Stewart and Matt McLain were on the upper edges of the zone, if not higher. Tong is going to have more success than not while living up there. But it's a reminder that major league hitters are good enough to turn that high heat around. Those two homers matched the two homers that Tong gave up all season in the minors.

But the home run to Austin Hays? Well ...

It was interesting to see Tong start to mix in his breaking pitches after giving up those first two home runs to try to mitigate the damage, as if he was adjusting on the fly along with Jeremy Hefner. That flexibility will serve him well, as long as he knows what his bread and butter is. He sure as heck knew it when he ended his night with a 98 mph strikeout. All in all, Tong's outing wasn't bad, and he responded well after the four runs.

Running Into The Sun, But Running Blind

The Lindor caught stealing in the 5th inning seemed like a self inflicted wound happening in slow motion. Lindor doubled with one out in the 5th and Juan Soto up. Gary, Keith and Ron noted on the first pitch to Soto that Lindor wanted to steal third. But they warned then that it wasn't the best baseball play to steal third with Juan Soto up (a lefty, making it easier for the catcher to throw him out.) They then mused (hoped?) that Lindor was merely trying to shake up Singer.

They turned out to be wrong, as Lindor took off on the next pitch and was thrown out by a mile. There's aggression, and there's foolishness. This seemed more like the latter. Antoan Richardson, who has been amazing with figuring out the tells of pitchers to help his runners steal bases, might need to recalibrate his troops after this recent stretch, which has seen the pitchers start to catch on to the Mets' aggression.

Brownout

The Mets may have been hot at the plate, but tonight was a return to the frustrating days of not being able to get the big hit at the right time. The Mets left ten on base with a few notable chances lost. The Mets had the bases loaded twice in the third inning with the Reds up 2-0, but were only able to come away with a sac fly by Nimmo. It was opportunity lost as the Mets had their best chance to turn the game around. The Mets also got two runners on in the 6th but Brett Baty struck out to end the inning

Then in the 8th inning, after Ryne Stanek set fire to the game in the bottom of the 7th to give the Reds a four run lead, the Mets had two runners on with Francisco Alvarez up. But Tony Santillan caught Alvarez in between as he struck him out looking to end the inning with runners on second and third. Then in the ninth the Mets tried to rally and scored a run on a wild pitch, but Nimmo and Pete Alonso struck out to end the game.

It was a reminder of past offensive struggles that the Mets really don't need right now.