USA Today Sports/ Photo by Anthony Gruppuso
Mets manager Terry Collins made some crafty moves in the home half of the seventh by presumably using Lucas Duda as a decoy with his team down three zip.
Reds pitcher Brandon Finnegan overstayed his welcome after stymieing New York for six scoreless innings. Juan Lagares reached first on a one out walk, then Kevin Plawecki’s sharp single to right center put runners on the corners.
With reliever Logan Verrett due up, Duda camped out in the on deck circle, and as Reds manager Bryan Price walked out to the mound, the Met first baseman strolled back to the Mets dugout.
Then, like a super hero, Yoenis Cespedes appeared in the dugout, taping his wrists, the only thing missing – a mask and a red cape.
Cespedes took Finnegan’s first pitch 93 mph fastball into the left field seats for a game tying three run homer. And to the dismay of euphoric fans, Cespedes immediately left the field without a curtain call.
It was too little too late for Cincy, when Finnegan was finally replaced by lefty Tony Cingrani – who didn’t fare any better. Curtis Granderson launched one to deep center, landing on third with a triple, then David Wright, on an 0-2 pitch, spanked a single sending Granderson home with the go-head and winning run.
This was a game that looked like it was heading straight for the loss column, but this ball club shows shades of ’86 at times, making you believe there is no deficit too deep to crawl out from.
Bartolo Colon escaped a 1-2 record, Logan Verrett, the righty who feels right at home wherever you need him, picked up his third win against no losses, Addison Reed pitched a perfect eight, and Jeurys Familia is now seven for seven in saves.
In tonight’s series finale, Matt Harvey gets the start and goes against Jon Moscot, who’s vying for his first victory of the season. Fans are hoping Harvey finds his former self, pitches deep into the game, and keeps the Mets winning streak alive.
Diamond Dust: The Mets have won 10 of their last 12 games and are riding a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season. The Mets improved to 4-4 at Citi Field and have won three straight at home. New York was 49-32 (.605) at home in 2015. With last night’s win, the Mets have won 10-straight games vs. the Reds dating to September 7, 2014, extending a franchise-record.
