| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Mets (88-67) | 10 | 10 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (63-91) | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| W: Harvey (13-7) L: Lamb (1-4) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Mets’ win over the Reds today clinched their division title. New York’s junior team qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
The Good
— Joey Votto got three more hits to lift his season slash line to .318/.464/.557 for a 1.021 OPS. One of the best Reds’ hitters ever is having an epic season for the ages. Too bad it is being wasted by his inferior teammates.
— Votto has now reached base in 43 consecutive games and has a chance to break the franchise record of 48 set by Pete Rose of course.
— Jay Bruce continued his hot streak with two hits to raise his OPS to .744, which is an above average mark compared to the rest of the league, but is well below his .784 career OPS.
— Todd Frazier also had two hits and a walk to bring his slash line to .260/.314/.509 for a nice .823 OPS. He has righted the ship after a post-Home Run Derby slump.
— Ivan DeJesus had two hits and two RBI and has surely cemented himself a job as a utility player next season.
— John Lamb has strikeout stuff, which is a very good sign for the future despite his bad game today and his 5.40 ERA on the season. He struck out 4 batters in his two innings today to give him 52 strikeouts in 45 innings on the season.
— Collin Balester had a rare good outing. He pitched three scoreless innings today. He has had a terrible season with a 6.08 ERA but let’s give him credit when he pitches well. His ERA was 7.84 before today.
— The Reds took another step towards a top five draft pick next year.
— The Reds are one day closer to the end of a season that has been hard to watch at times.
The Bad
— John Lamb gave up a grand slam to the Mets’ Lucas Duda in the first inning and was pulled after allowing five earned runs in only two innings.
— The Reds allowed three home runs for the second day in a row. And they have mostly been multi-run blasts. A grand slam and three-run homer today.
— Burke Badenhop allowed three runs in his lone inning of work. His ERA is now up to 4.14 on the season after putting up a 2.29 ERA for the Red Sox last year.
— The Reds actually outhit the Mets 13-10 today, but not all hits are created equal. Singles can’t compete with home runs.
— It seemed like there were more Mets fans in attendance than Reds fans today.
— Reds pitchers walked seven batters today. That is a recipe for a blowout. Reds pitchers threw 174 pitches. The Mets walked only one batter and threw only 138 pitches despite allowing more hits.
— The Reds are one day closer to the end of the season. Even bad baseball is better than no baseball.
Tomorrow’s Game
— The Reds and Mets will wrap up the series on Sunday at 1:10 when Keyvius Sampson (2-5, 6.45 ERA) takes the mound for the Reds against last year’s NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom (13-8, 2.64 ERA).