Cincinnati Reds’ Offense Stifled by Syndergaard, Fall to Mets 2-1

W: Noah Syndergaard (3-4)

L: Johnny Cueto (4-5)

S: Jeurys Familia (21)

Based on the pitching matchup of Friday’s game, it looked like it could very well be a pitching duel. It was exactly that, as the New York Mets edged the Cincinnati Reds 2-1, despite getting only two hits the entire game.

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Johnny Cueto gave up a leadoff home run to Curtis Granderson, but settled down after that, retiring the next nine. He got into a bit of trouble in the fourth after hitting Ruben Tejada and a fielding error by Eugenio Suarez, but got two groundouts to end the inning.

In the fifth, Cueto got two quick outs, but then allowed a triple to Dilson Herrera. After that, he began to lose all control in very un-Cueto-like fashion and walked Granderson and Eric Campbell back-to-back. With the bases loaded, he got ahead 0-2 to Lucas Duda, and it looked like Cueto would escape with no damage done. But he threw four straight balls to walk in what would be the winning run. Cueto finished with six innings in the book, giving up two earned runs on just two hits and striking out six, but walking three.

The only offense the Reds could muster came in the second when Jay Bruce and Brayan Pena both singled to start the inning. Eugenio Suarez sent Bruce to third with a ground ball and Chris Dominguez brought him in with another ground ball.

Aside from Cueto’s six strikeouts, the bullpen was a lone bright spot. Manny Parra pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and Nate Adcock pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

Other Notes:

• Suarez booted another ball in the fourth. It’s his third error in the last two games. Yikes.
• Brandon Phillips went 1-for-4. This is significant because he now has a 30-game hit streak on the road against the New York Mets. Think about that for a minute. Phillips has a hit in every game he’s played at Shea Stadium and Citi Field. Very impressive.
• Joey Votto saw his 32-game on-base streak come to an end with a 0-for-4 night. Don’t be worried though. He’ll probably start another one tomorrow.

Up Next: It doesn’t get any easier for the Reds in the second game of this three-game series Saturday at 4:10 ET as they have to face Mets ace Matt Harvey (7-5, 3.18 ERA). Michael Lorenzen (3-2, 3.56 ERA) will be on the mound for Cincinnati.

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