Reds look to stay hot, Mets look to avoid habitual lulls

The first game following the All-Star break provided plenty of reassurance for the Cincinnati Reds.

For the New York Mets, the return to action just underscored the offensive inconsistency they've been dealing with most of the season.

The Reds will look to lock up a series win Saturday afternoon when they visit the Mets in the middle game of a three-game set.

Nick Martinez (7-9, 4.78 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Reds against fellow right-hander Clay Holmes (8-4, 3.31).

Austin Hays hit two homers and Matt McLain and Tyler Stephenson had one round-tripper apiece on Friday night for the Reds, who held off a ninth-inning rally by the Mets to earn an 8-4 victory.

Cincinnati got off to a slow start Friday, failing to record a hit against Sean Manaea until Hays led off the fourth with a homer. The Reds scored in each of the next four innings, however, with Hays, McLain and Stephenson hitting their home runs between the fourth and sixth innings.

The four homers tied a season high for the Reds, who also went deep four times against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 5 and against the Detroit Tigers on June 14.

Reds manager Terry Francona credited players for knocking off the All-Star break rust Thursday, when every player except Elly De La Cruz -- whom Francona ordered to stay away after he played in all 97 first-half games as well as the All-Star Game -- appeared at an optional workout at Citi Field.

"You sit around for four days and it's always probably the most anxiety, almost of the year," said Francona, who is in his 24th season as a big-league manager. "I had less this year, just because the guys came out and worked out last night. I've never seen that before. And I've been doing this a lot of years.

"They were ready to play."

A fast start led to a familiar lull for the Mets, who took a 2-0 lead thanks to Juan Soto's first-inning homer and Jeff McNeil's second-inning RBI single. But Reds pitchers Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft and Sam Moll retired 22 of the next 24 batters following McNeil's single before five straight New York batters reached with two outs in the ninth.

Brandon Nimmo, who started the comeback attempt with a double, scored when right fielder Connor Joe misplayed Ronny Mauricio's liner. Mauricio then scored on a single by Luis Torrens. Francisco Lindor, representing the potential tying run with the bases loaded, popped out to second on a 3-2 pitch to end the gane.

The solid start and fast finish continued a pair of trends for the Mets, who entered Friday batting .248 with a .748 OPS in the first three innings and a .257 average with a .772 OPS from innings seven through nine. But New York is hitting just .228 with a .697 OPS in innings four through six.

"Just feel like those middle innings, we're having a hard time putting a rally together," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "We're not passing the baton, if you want to call it that.

"We've got good hitters and we'll get through it."

Martinez earned the win in his most recent start last Sunday when he gave up two runs over 5 1/3 innings in the Reds' 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Holmes didn't factor into the decision Sunday after allowing two runs over five innings as the Mets fell to the Kansas City Royals, 3-2.

Martinez is 0-0 with a 6.23 ERA in five games (one start) against the Mets. Holmes is 1-1 with an 8.40 ERA and one save in 12 career games (one start) against the Reds.

--Field Level Media