Major League Baseball

Mets offense struggles again in loss to Cincinnati

Published Jul. 11, 2009 4:25 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Mets are sinking fast, and Bronson Arroyo kept getting them to beat the ball into the ground.

Arroyo threw a four-hitter for his second career shutout, Joey Votto and Laynce Nix homered off Fernando Nieve, and the Cincinnati Reds defeated helpless New York 3-0 Friday night.

"I had kind of a hard changeup that was diving down," said Arroyo, who got 15 ground-ball outs. "Obviously, having a watered-down lineup helped, too."

Before the game, New York traded Ryan Church to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Francoeur and cash in a swap of outfielders who had fallen out of favor with their teams. The Mets then went out and lost for the sixth time in seven games and 11th in 14, drawing frequent and loud boos from the crowd of 39,203 at Citi Field.