The Cincinnati Reds play host to the New York Mets for the third and final game of their 3-game series on Wednesday night. In game-2 Max Scherzer made his much anticipated return going 6 strong innings allowing just 2 hits and no runs. The Reds ended up taking the game in the ninth winning 1-0 thanks to a sacrifice fly by Mike Moustakas. Can the Mets bounce back after scoring no runs? Here is my complete prediction and breakdown.
New York Mets Reach 50 Wins
The New York Mets clinched their 50th win with their 7-4 victory over the Reds in game 1 of this very series. It is safe to say they are one of the best teams in baseball, which is even more impressive when you think about the injuries to Scherzer limiting his starts and Ace DeGrom yet to make an appearance, although looking to come back soon. As of now they are in first police in the NL East and playing good baseball on both sides.
In terms of their offence, the Mets are scoring a league 3rd with 4.8 runs per game, batting a combined .256 which is good for 4th and are second in on base percentage with .327. They have shown that they can string together hits and they also have multiple men that can go yard at any given moment. Jeff McNeil leads the Mets in batting average with .319, whilst Pete Alonso leads the team in RBI’s with 69 as well as homers with 22. Francisco Lindor has punched in 57 RBI’s and 13 home runs this season.
Getting the start for the Mets is left-hander David Peterson, who is having a solid season. So far, Peterson is posting a 5-1 record over 58.1 innings of work, leaving him with a 3.24 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 60 strikeouts. In his last start Peterson went 6 innings against the Rangers allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. The Mets pitching staff is posting a combined ERA of 3.86, which is 13th in the Majors.
Tanking Reds
The Cincinnati Reds currently find themselves in 5th place in the NL Central with a 28-52 record. Whilst we still have a long way to go, it’s pretty safe to say there isn’t much the Reds can do to turn their season around. The Reds have a classic bad recipe in baseball, struggling middle lineup and a terrible bullpen. They are 4-6 in their last 10 however and look to win the series over the Mets after winning 1-0 last game.
The Reds are scoring a league 18th 4.3 runs per game and batting a .238 as a team which is good for 19th in the league. The poor numbers don’t stop their for the Reds who find themselves near the bottom of the league in every category. They can't risk losing any base runners, as they are rare for the Reds. Watch for Brandon Drury at the plate in this one, as well. He has already hit 17 home runs this season and driven in 45 more. He provides a spark for this Reds team and has looked great at the plate the past few weeks.
For this game the Reds are sending rookie Graham Ashcraft to the mound. His last start didn’t go very well, only going 2 innings against the Cubs allowing 7 hits and 7 runs, including a homer. For the season however, Ashcraft is 4-2 with a 4.53 ERA, 1.24 WHIP over 43.2 innings of work. The Reds need starters like Ashcraft to go deep into games as they feature the worst bullpen of pitchers in the league. The team is posting a combined ERA 5.45 and 1.43 WHIP. The Reds are allowing 5.5 runs per game, some of which is a result of the fact they have already committed 43 fielding errors on the season.
Mets Strike Back
The Mets have one of the best batting lineups in the MLB and will be keen to bounce back after producing no runs on Tuesday. Additionally, Peterson should have no issues with this Reds lineup and not allow them to reach base consistently. Expect Ashcraft to struggle against this Mets lineup and he wont have any security in the Bullpen to turn to. I am taking the Mets.
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