CINCINNATI -- The Reds and Mets came into Friday's game at Great American Ball Park with identical 66-74 records but they are definitely two teams heading in opposite directions.
The Mets started by hammering Reds starter Alfredo Simon for six runs in four innings and then continued against the bullpen before settling for a 14-5 win. It was the fourth loss in a row for the Reds and their sixth defeat in the last seven games. It's a continuation of the freefall they've found themselves in since returning from the All-Star break, a freefall in which they are now 15-31 since being just 1½ games out of first place on July 13.
Manager Bryan Price answered the first question of his post-game media session. Then there was a pause of six seconds. Awkward silence that the manager broke.
"Yeah, not a whole lot of questions. What do you ask? When you get beat like that, there's not a whole lot to ask," said Price. "I get it. It's no fun for anybody. We kept people here for 3½ hours for fireworks. That's a shame."
As long of a second half to the season as it has been for the players, management and fans, it still has three weeks left to go.
"The key thing is going out and competing," said Price. "Nobody wants to be embarrassed like this. We know we have an extremely poor record since the All-Star break and a lot of things haven't worked out terribly well but we're all professionals. We've got to play 162. This can get worse, believe me, it can get worse or this can get better."
The Reds gave up a season-high 18 hits. The 14 runs allowed equaled a season-high. The Mets hit five home runs, one off the GABP record.
The Mets scored in every inning except the third when they left a runner on second base. It could have been worse; the Mets left 13 runners on base.
Simon gave up eight hits and six runs in just four innings, throwing 96 pitches in his short outing. Simon's previous three outings had given the impression that his post All-Star Game swoon had been overcome, but Friday he couldn't find the lower part of the strike zone and dropped to 1-7 since the break because of it. The Reds were 15-3 in the first half of the season when Simon started but have won just one of his 10 starts since.
The Mets have won seven of their last 11 games and are a respectable 30-26 since July 4. While they are 14 games behind NL East leader Washington the Mets have a something positive brewing. Five of their starting eight Friday were players who are 26 years old or younger and are under the team's control through 2019. Three of them -- second baseman Dilson Herrera, shortstop Wilmer Flores and catcher Travis D'Arnaud -- hit homers Friday night. Center fielder Juan Lagares showed off his defensive prowess in the first inning when he cut off a ball headed for the gap in left-center field and threw out Todd Frazier attempting to stretch a single into a double.
Devin Mesoraco followed with a home run to left field.
D'Arnaud's three-run homer in the fourth inning turned a 3-2 Mets lead into a four-run advantage. They kept piling on from there. It's the fourth game in a row the Reds have given up at least five runs. The opposition has scored first in six straight games. Where they were once only 1½ games out of first place, they are now just 1½ games ahead of the Chicago Cubs and last place in the division.
The next three weeks are going to be a real test for this team.
"There's really not a whole lot to say at this point," said Mesoraco. "Day after day the same thing. We're going out there and putting in the good effort and we're not playing well enough. We're not able to get enough hits, we're not able to hold down the other team's offense. There's really nothing left to say. We're just not playing good baseball at all."
