Reds trio of rookie hurlers look to sparkle as Cincinnati welcomes the Mets to town

It's over, Reds Country. After dropping 10 consecutive home games, their longest such skid since 1986, the Cincinnati Reds (27-51) finally broke through with a 4-3 walk-off win yesterday versus the Atlanta Braves.

Granted, it took incredible generosity on the Braves' part. Still, Cincinnati took advantage of Atlanta's miscues to celebrate their first victory at Great American Ball Park since a 14-8 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks nearly a month ago.

Unfortunately, the Reds will not get to celebrate too long as the National League East-leading New York Mets visit the Queen City. After posting a winning record in May, the Redlegs stumbled badly again in June going a disappointing 9-18 while winning just three of 14 games on their home field.

When you're 24 games under .500, winning at all has been difficult. But the Cincinnati Reds have struggled to an alarming 13-25 mark at GABP. However, the Reds will have eight more opportunities to improve their home record this week before hitting the road to close out the first half of the 2022 campaign.

Will we see any fireworks between the Reds and Mets?

Don't look for the New York Mets (49-30) to offer any sympathy to their hosts this week. Veteran manager, Buck Showalter, in his first season at the helm of the Metropolitans, has New York sitting atop of the NL East as they lead the defending world champion Braves by 3.5 games.

How dominant have the Mets been this season? They've been in first place in the division every day but one when they fell a half-game back on Monday, April 11th.

To absolutely no one's surprise, the Mets have excelled at the plate as well as the pitching mound. Entering play yesterday, the Mets' .327 team OBP ranked second among all NL clubs. Currently, New York has five regulars with an OBP north of .333 led by Jeff McNeil who's reaching base at a .377 clip.

Additionally, the Mets pitching staff places third in the senior circuit with 735 K's, and the 229 bases on balls they've issued are the third-fewest in the NL as well. When it comes to slamming the door in late-inning situations, few do it as well as New York.

Closer Edwin Diaz, the NL Reliever of the Month in June, has compiled 18 saves while fanning an astronomical 63 in just 32.1 innings. Needless to say, if the Cincinnati Reds trail late, it's nearly impossible to defeat the Mets entering the ninth inning.

Over the last decade, the Mets have dominated the Reds going 34-25. Cincinnati has not won a season series versus the Metropolitans since 2013 and you have to go back to the 2018 campaign to find the last time the Reds captured a series at Great American Ball Park.