Mets Erupt For 15 Runs In Wild Extra Inning Victory Over Reds
The Mets offense erupted for 15 runs to steal a wild, back-and-forth victory over the Reds in extra innings on Monday night.
The offense carried the load behind seven home runs (season-high), 18 hits and a five-run inning in the top of the 11th.
Both teams exchanged five different lead changes, before Jeff McNeil knocked in the go-ahead run on an RBI single to give the Mets a lead they would finally not relinquish.
With the pitcher's spot on deck and the Mets out of position players on their bench, the Reds surprisingly chose to face McNeil, who burned them.
But they were just getting started, as Kevin Pillar gave the Mets just what they needed with a huge three-run homer to extend the lead to 14-10.
And that wasn't all, as Michael Conforto went back-to-back with Pillar for his second homer of the night, and the Mets' second pair of back-to-back long balls, to give his club their 15th run of the evening.
"Guys picked each other up," said Pillar after the game. "It's what we've been about all year."
"I keep using the quote" we're built for this," he said.
Closer Edwin Diaz suffered his third-consecutive blown save in the ninth, when the Mets opted to pitch to Met killer Jesse Winker with first base open, who made them pay with a game-tying RBI double.
This sent the game to extras, where James McCann did his best Winker impression with his second go-ahead hit of the night, as well. Pillar stood on third with one out as the lead run, and McCann knocked him in with an RBI single to put his team back in front, 10-9.
"It stems from the personnel in the clubhouse," said McCann of the team's resiliency. "You got to have the right guys buy in....everyone puts the team first."
"The persistent fight, guys have that never give up mentality," he added.
Clinging to a one run lead in the bottom of the 10th, left-hander Anthony Banda gave up the game-tying run on two straight hits in his Mets debut. But Banda fought back with first-and-second and no outs to keep this one tied, by inducing a double play, and then an inning ending grounder.
Although Banda was only able to record one out in the bottom of the 11th after allowing another run, Trevor May entered for a save chance and locked it down to secure a crazy 15-11 win.
The Mets have now won two straight and are 49-42 on the season. The Amazins' have scored at least seven runs in their last three games, with a total of 29.
Playing in a famous hitters' park in the Great American Ball Park, the Mets came back twice, first from four runs down, and later when trailing by a run in the top of the eighth.
Without manager Luis Rojas, who received a two-game suspension for his dust up with the umpire in Sunday's matchup, the Mets' offense continued to be resilient with bench coach Dave Jauss at the helm.
"That group of people - men and women - it's great," said the "always happy" Jauss. "They have a bond that they are together."
After the Reds re-gained the lead against Seth Lugo in the bottom of the seventh, Jauss opted to pinch hit the ice cold McCann with the tying run on first in the top of the eighth.
And this move paid off in a big way, as McCann smacked a go-ahead two-run shot to put his team ahead at 9-8.
Jauss went on to downplay the decision to use McCann there, despite it being one of the biggest moves of the night.
"It's not a big move, it turned out be result-wise, but it's not a big move," he said.
The Mets struck first with three runs in the top of the first off Reds pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez, after Pete Alonso and McNeil hit back-to-back homers.
Unfortunately, Mets starter Jerad Eickhoff allowed four runs in the bottom half to give the Reds a 4-3 lead.
And in the bottom of the second, Eickhoff's defense failed him, as Luis Guillorme made two errors on the same play, which ultimately led to a three run inning for the Reds. Filling in for Francisco Lindor at shortstop, the usually sure-handed Guillorme committed three errors. At this point, the Reds were up 7-3 as a result of seven unanswered runs.
But in the top of the fourth, the Mets' bats woke back up, as Conforto hit his second home run in the last two days, for a two-run shot to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Tomas Nido followed this homer up with a double, and then the pitcher Eickhoff recorded a bunt single into no-man's land to setup first-and-third with one out.
Although Nimmo's dribbler did not score a run, Alonso came through again with an RBI bloop single to put his team within a run. Alonso drove in three runs on the night.
While Eickhoff got two quick outs in the bottom of the fourth, he allowed a single, which ended his night. The final line for Eickhoff was 3.2 innings, seven runs (two-earned) on six hits, with three strikeouts. Yennsy Diaz came in to get the last out of the frame.
In the following inning, the Mets home run party continued when Dom Smith led off the top of the fifth with a game-tying solo homer to knot things up at 7-7.
As for Diaz, he came back out to toss a scoreless fifth inning to keep the game tied.
Right-handed reliever Miguel Castro threw 1.2 scoreless innings, before being lifted in favor of the struggling Lugo with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
However, Lugo's troubles continued as he handed the Reds the lead back when Jesse Winker hit an RBI double. The run was charged to Castro, who allowed the lead runner to reach base. Lugo got out of the inning with some help from Alonso, who made a great scoop at first base after a poor throw from Jose Peraza.
After the Mets took the lead back in the top of the eighth, Lugo was asked to go another inning, and this time, he came back to work around a one out single by striking out three Reds hitters.
