Reds Beat: Missed Chances Galore (17 LOB) in 4-2 Loss To Mets But Pitching Showing Important Positive Signs

NEW YORK — The Reds left an astronomical 17 men on base Wednesday night and that was the reason they could not finish off a sweep of the woebegone New York Mets here at Citi Field and fell, 4-2, in the series finale.

On Monday, Nick Lodolo picked up his first win of the season as the offense cruised in a 7-2 win. On Tuesday, Chase Burns overpowered the Mets for 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight and walking two, allowing only a two-run homer to Juan Soto and JJ Bleday had three of of Cincinnati’s 15 hits as the Reds beat the Mets for a second straight day by an identical 7-2 score at Citi Field.

The Reds were presented the opportunity to equal that or surpass it Wednesday but they were 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position, including strikeouts by Spencer Steer, Dane Myers and Blake Dunn in the ninth, with Myers and Dunn whiffing with the bases loaded to end the game.

Still, this felt like a good excursion to the Big Apple for the Reds, with the starting pitching starting to round into shape and the Reds at least putting pressure on opposing pitchers. Obviously, there is the other part of that equation – finishing the deal and knocking in the runs when opportunity presents itself.

Juan Soto belted his 12th of the season in the second off Abbott on a hanging curve that caught too much of the inside part of the plate. The drive to the seats down the right field line gave the Mets their first lead of the series, 1-0.

Abbott was hit hard in the second inning. Elly De La Cruz made a diving snare of a Marcus Semien line drive that came off the bat at 106 mph while Eric Wagaman’s 415-foot home run down the left field line was estimated at 110 mph and gave the Mets a two-run lead.

“They beat me on hits, but that’s how I want it,” Abbott said. “I didn’t want to walk the house and give them free opportunities. I don’t want to do that, and if they’re going to beat me, they’re going to have to earn it. And they earned it.”

Abbott (4-3) had his personal four-game win streak snapped and took his first loss since April 12, despite recording a quality start. The lefty allowed three runs – two earned – on five hits in six innings, striking out four and walking one and surrendering two solo home runs. Abbott, who needed 101 pitches (67 strikes) to finish six innings, still posted a very impressive 3-1 mark, a 1.29 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in five starts in May. Most of all, it picked up the Reds rotation when they needed it the most.

“I missed two spots early on, got punished for it,” Abbott said. “That’s going to happen, but I feel like I rebounded well. I was winning the counts. I got, you know, first pitch strikes were a big win today, and overall strike percentage was pretty good. I made pitches when I have to, and ultimately I gave the team a chance, and that’s all you can ask, or that’s all I want to do anyway. I wish I didn’t have to throw 101 pitches, but when they’re grinding, when they’re taking long at-bats, not everything kind of goes in your favor sometimes.

“I think the ball to Semien was a strike, but we used the challenge earlier, so we didn’t feel comfortable challenging that pitch. But looking back, though, I feel like I did a lot of positives. I had a lot of hard-hit contact off of me, but I was able just to limit, which was, which was nice.”

The Reds put two runners on in each of the first three innings, finally breaking through in the third. Nathaniel Lowe singled up the middle off shortstop Bo Bichette’s glove, scoring De La Cruz, who reached on a throwing error by pitcher Jonah Tong (1-0), who earned the win in relief of opener Huascar Brazoban. Tong allowed one unearned run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Benge knocked in a run in the fifth with two outs after De La Cruz committed a two-out error on a Brett Baty grounder. His two-out single in the seventh against Zach Maxwell made it 4-2 before Caleb Ferguson – making his Reds debut – retired the final batter of the seventh.

The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the sixth against Myers and Brooks Raley before Sal Stewart chopped an RBI infield single to third to cut New York’s lead to 3-2. Still, the Reds left the bases loaded when Suarez flew out to center, bringing Cincinnati’s left on base total to 12 through just six innings.

The Reds forced Tong from the game in the fifth when they put runners on first and second. But reliever Tobias Myers threw one pitch, retiring Spencer Steer on a line out to deep left to end the inning.

Luke Weaver came on to retire pinch-hitter Dane Myers on a line drive to center for the final out of the seventh, as A.J. Ewing made a diving catch with pinch-runner Will Benson on first.

“We had some balls just not quite far enough,” Reds skipper Terry Francona said. “We had some good at-bats, though. And it’s going to happen. I mean, Abbott gave us a great chance to win. The two runs were the two solo homers. Maxwell got to 0-2, and I know it was a lot of pitches, but he got to 0-2, and actually probably a ball, nice piece of hitting (by Benge), and Ferguson came in and did a hell of a job.”

Before the game, Rhett Lowder felt and looked good in his 45-pitch simulated game Wednesday at Citi Field. He worked on all his pitches. Lowder says the issue was “tightness and strong strength and balance, and muscle imbalance in some areas.” He allowed a pair of home runs to Will Benson. Lowder also faced Matt McLain in the simulation. Francona says next step is a “70-ish” pitch rehab start for Triple-A Louisville next Tuesday in Memphis. “The fact that he almost could keep throwing, I think he was down (and not) throwing two or three days, that was all. Was so he’s not building back up. They just really have been stressing and working on like range of motion, activating the right muscles, and trying to read, kind of retrain that shoulder, probably the best way I could say it. And he’s done a really good job.”

Then there was another indication of continuing maturity from Chase Burns, who earned the win Tuesday, is the work he’s putting in in between starts. The issue in spring training that caused him to sit out a start was the result of making sure his mechanics were solid. “The arm care in between starts,” Francona said. “Some guys, when they’re young, they just throw, man, they’re really good, and they pitch, and now, you start to get where you’re pitching every five days, there’s a pretty good routine to, and we just want to make sure he understood that, because kind of new form, so that was all we’re trying to do, is just try to like instill. We want this kid to be able to take the ball every five days, and we thought that was the best time to rather do it in June.”