Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Marcus Stroman pitched an absolute gem as the New York Mets wrapped up their series in Cincinnati with a 7-0 shutout of the Reds on Wednesday afternoon.

The Mets needed a deep outing from Stroman given how thin their bullpen has been stretched, and the starter responded in kind by pitching a one-hit shutout.

Stroman threw over 90 pitches and went eight full innings to give the Mets the length they have craved for a while, and he delivered  his best and most effective outing of the season so far.

“Highly important, right,” said Mets manager Luis Rojas after the game.

“Stroman’s been outstanding this season. He’s kept us in a lot of games. His record doesn’t show how well he’s pitched. He gave us the eight innings. We needed it.

“We’re glad he gave that breather to the bullpen.”

Granted, Stroman’s afternoon hardly got off to a vintage start as he hit Jonathan India with his first pitch of the day, although he did redeem himself by coming off the mound to execute a double play to retire both India and Jesse Winker.

He then coaxed a popup from Tyler Stephenson to come out of the first inning clean and, after Jonathan Villar homered in the top of the second, Stroman continued to go to work as he struck out both Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez, while he stepped on the bag himself to get out Tyler Naduin who grounded out to first.

Dominic Smith hit a grand slam in the third inning to arm Stroman with a five-run lead, one he kept intact after escaping the inning unscathed despite giving up a single to Aristides Aquino, with Kyle Farmer lining out to third base and India popping out to Stroman to end the third.

Winker grounded out in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Reds offense continued to struggle, and Stroman was able to coax grounders from both Stephenson and Votto to make short work of the side and keep his pitch count down.

It was all going to plan for Stroman and the Mets with the bats continuing to rake in the fifth inning as Luis Guillorme blasted a two-run home run, although Stroman was unable to wreak any damage at the plate as he was struck out by Tony Santillan.

Smith made a good catch in left field to get out Naquin in the bottom of the fifth, and Stroman continued to deal as he struck out Suarez and Aquino as he breezed through the inning with his pitch count below the 70 mark.

Stroman again used few pitches to get through the sixth, displaying more filthy stuff to strike out India swinging.

It was an impressive outing from the 30-year-old and he was giving the Mets the length they so badly needed, going into the seventh inning having thrown just 69 pitches.

Winker grounded out and Stroman was able to get a glove on it before throwing to Alonso at first base, although he did walk Votto with his first walk of the day after driving up his pitch count somewhat in the seventh.

However, Naquin grounded out to end the inning, and Stroman was back out in the bottom of the eighth as he struck out Suarez and Aquino again, before Farmer lined out to Brandon Nimmo in center field to make it a very short inning.

And that was it for Stroman, who was replaced by Jeurys Familia in the ninth, ending his day with one hit, no runs, one walk and seven strikeouts in eight innings with 90 pitches thrown.

As good as Stroman was, though, the fact that he gave the Mets a full eight innings was the most important factor given how exhausted the bullpen is, and the veteran was happy he could help out his teammates.

“To be honest, I have the same mentality and mindset in every game,” Stroman said after the series finale.

“It doesn’t change. That’s my goal. That’s the standard.

“That’s the key for me of whoever was on the mound – to go deep.

“It’s a great feeling to hear the guys saying, ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.”

It was exactly what the Mets needed in terms of a starter going so deep and their bats getting hot, and Stroman lowered his ERA to 2.59 in the process, which is the lowest mark he’s had in any 20-start stretch in his career.