After walking away with a 12-0 loss to Cincinnati on Monday and the news of Christian Scott going to the injured list, the Mets were hoping to get back in the win column Tuesday night. As Scott headed to the IL, Tuesday night marked the return of right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga, who had been on the IL since April with lumbar spine inflammation.
Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
It was not the comeback outing Senga was hoping for as he quickly got beaten around in the bottom of the first for four runs by the Reds. The bullpen kept the Mets in the game, but the Mets were not able to come back.
Senga gave up back-to-back walks to open the first in his return outing, followed by a three-run home run to Sal Stewart before recording an out. He retired the next two he faced, but then gave up his second home run of the inning to Spencer Steel to make it a 4-0 Reds lead.
After going down quietly in the first two innings, the Mets showed some signs of life in the third, getting a run back on an RBI single by Bo Bichette with two on to decrease Cincinnati’s lead to three (4-1).
Senga settled in after a rough first inning, proceeding to throw a scoreless second, third, and fourth inning before Carlos Mendoza went to the bullpen in the fifth. He finished his day with four earned runs allowed on two hits (two home runs), four walks, and five strikeouts.
Cionel Perez relieved Senga in the fifth. He gave up back-to-back hits to open the inning before two batters later giving up an RBI single to Stewart that extended the Reds’ lead to 5-1.
The Mets answered back in the game of Pinball to score two runs in the sixth. With Marcus Semien reaching on a single to right field and advancing to second on a fielding error, two batters later, Mark Vientos struck for a home run to left field that brought the Mets within two (5-3) in the sixth.
The Mets’ bullpen proceeded to finish out the game strong on the mound and keep the Mets in the game. Austin Warren, Huascar Brazoban, and Luke Weaver combined to strike out six across three scoreless innings, but the Mets were unable to finish the comeback as they went on to drop game two to the Reds 5-3, also dropping the series.
Stat of the Game
The Mets weren’t without their chances, either. They ended the inning with the bases loaded two more times after doing so three times on Monday. It’s the first time in Mets history the team had at least eight at-bats with the bases loaded and didn’t score a run.
On Deck
The Mets and Reds close out their three-game series on Wednesday at 12:40 PM EDT. The Mets will send right-handed pitcher Nolan McLean (3-4, 4.01 ERA, 88 SO) to the mound against Reds left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo (2-1, 5.21 ERA, 30 SO).
McLean made it through just four innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits, and struck out six in his last outing on June 12. In a year that’s been up and down for the Mets’ young phenom, he’ll look to get back to his winning ways on Wednesday.
