MLB Results: Mets 6, Reds 4 – Swaggy V walk-off puts Mets in 8th straight

The Mets defeated the Reds 6-4 in the tenth inning for their eighth straight victory and remain tied with the Braves in the NL Wild Card race. The Mets twice took a two-run lead, but each time they were tied by a Reds two-run home run off Sean Manaea. The Mets' bullpen was immaculate, setting the stage for walk-off hero Mark Vientos.

The Mets' first two-run lead came in the first inning against Reds opener Fernando Cruz. Francisco Lindor opened the inning with a single and then Mark Vientos hit his 23rd home run of the season with one out to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead.

The Mets were then stopped in the middle innings by Brandon Williamson, who easily played through four innings of bulk relief. Meanwhile, the Reds tied the game in the fourth inning when Sean Manaea brought Jonathan India in for the first time and then gave up a game-winning two-run homer to Elly De La Cruz, who can hit a home run on occasion. Manaea rebounded, however, by throwing out the side in the following inning.

Williamson's armor finally broke with two outs in the sixth inning when he allowed his first hit – a double by Pete Alonso that Jake Fraley nearly caught on a diving pitch in right field, but the ball slipped out of his glove and Alonso remained safely at second base. Carlos Mendoza then inserted José Iglesias as a pinch hitter for Jesse Winker, and Reds manager David Bell countered by taking Williamson out of the game in favor of right-hander Buck Farmer, which turned out to be the wrong choice. Iglesias hit an RBI single to lead off and drove to second base on a home run that would have put Pete Alonso at the plate had it been correct. But it didn't, and the Mets took a 3-2 lead. New father JD Martinez followed with an RBI single of his own to give the Mets their second two-run lead of the night.

But much like the initial two-run lead, this one was quickly wiped out by the long ball. With one out in the seventh inning, Manaea walked Spencer Steer and after striking out Ty France for the second out – his ninth strikeout of the night – Manaea made an error on TJ Friedl and Friedl didn't miss it, tying the game at four runs apiece. That was the end of the night for Manaea, who had just three hits in 6 ²⁄₃ innings of work, but two of them were costly home runs. Reed Garrett came in to keep the tie and did so by continuing his recent streak of strong work out of the bullpen by striking out three batters from 1 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings of work.

Edwin Díaz kept the strikeout parade going by striking out the team in the ninth inning, bringing the total number of strikeouts by Mets pitchers on the night to 15. Alexis Díaz took the mound at Citi Field in the ninth inning for the Reds – the first time he had appeared in the same major league game as his brother. Díaz hit Francisco Alvarez with a pitch with one out and Carlos Mendoza put Tyrone Taylor in as a pinch runner for him. Taylor stole second base, but the Mets couldn't catch him and the game went into overtime.

José Buttó threw a masterful pitch in the top of the tenth inning to keep the Reds off the scoreboard. After trailing 3-0, the leadoff hitter got Ty France to hit a ground ball to shortstop – leaving free runner Spencer Steer on second base – for the first out. TJ Friedl then threw a pop ball to shortstop and Francisco Lindor made a difficult play to left easy, ending the inning with the game still tied. With their bullpen decimated, having already used six pitchers that night, the Reds had to use former Mets left-hander Justin Wilson as Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso and José Iglesias were due to pitch. Instead of walking Mark Vientos, who had already hit a home run once tonight to set up the double play for a struggling Pete Alonso, the Reds decided to pitch to him, and Vientos made them pay by hitting a walk-off home run. Just moments after the Braves won their game against the Blue Jays, the Mets won for the eighth consecutive time – this time by a walk-off victory in overtime.

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What is WPA?

Big Mets winner: Mark Vientos, +36.8% WPA
Big Mets loser: Francisco Lindor, -18.5% WPA
Mets pitcher: +39.7% WPA
Mets bats: +10.3% WPA
This is the best game: Mark Vientos' walk-off home run in the tenth, +19.4% WPA
The sux0rest game: TJ Friedl's home run to tie the game in the seventh inning, -28.8% WPA