It’s been a brutal two weeks for the Cincinnati Reds (70-70), as they have lost ten of their last 13 games and their last four series, putting them five games behind the team that comes to Great American Ball Park this weekend. The Reds face the New York Mets (75-65) Friday night in the first game of the series that sees the Reds essentially have to sweep to stay in the playoff race. It’s a battle of All-Star pitchers in the first game of the series, as David Peterson faces off against Andrew Abbott Friday night. First pitch is at 6:40 PM EDT.
The Mets come to town on a mini hot streak, having gone 6-4 in their last ten games and winning three of their last four series. The Mets win with hitting, as their .761 team OPS is second in the NL behind only the Dodgers, but have recently brought up a couple of their top pitching prospects as well to help with the playoff push.
Lineups
New York Mets | Cincinnati Reds |
| Francisco Lindor – SS | TJ Friedl – CF |
| Juan Soto – RF | Noelvi Marte – RF |
| Pete Alonso – 1B | Elly De La Cruz – SS |
| Mark Vientos – 3B | Miguel Andujar – DH |
| Brandon Nimmo – LF | Austin Hays – LF |
| Starling Marte – DH | Spencer Steer – 1B |
| Jeff McNeil – CF | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Francisco Alvarez – C | Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B |
| Luisangel Acuna – 2B | Matt McLain – 2B |
Juan Soto has been a tear, slashing .340/.515/.740 with an OPS of 1.255 in his last 14 games.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| David Peterson | 152.0 | 3.61 | 1.31 | 58 | 136 |
| Andrew Abbott | 139.0 | 2.65 | 1.12 | 39 | 125 |
| Links: David Peterson’s Stats | Andrew Abbott’s Stats | |||||
David Peterson
An All-Star in 2025, David Peterson is having a solid season in his fourth full season in the big leagues. He has pitched the most innings of his career to date and has struck out the most batters in his career to date. Peterson is, however, coming off his worst start of the season, allowing eight runs in just two innings to the Marlins on August 30th. This start singlehandedly pushed his ERA from 3.18 to 3.61. He’s not a strikeout pitcher and his walk rate is pretty low, particularly to right-handed batters, but his ground ball rate is one of the best in the majors. Peterson has always been a ground ball pitcher, averaging close to 50 percent GB% each year. This year, however, his ground ball rate is up to 55.8%.
Peterson dominates the left-handed hitters he faces. As a lefty himself, he doesn’t face many of them, but when he does, he limits walks, strikeouts out hitters, and doesn’t allow hits. He throws almost all two-seam fastballs and sliders to lefties, and he has a 38.2% whiff rate on his slider this season.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 503 | 113 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 11% | 18% | .254 | .337 | .371 |
| LHH | 139 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4% | 31% | .215 | .261 | .269 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-Seam | 4-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 91.2 | 92.2 | 84.5 | 84.4 | 78.6 |
| Usage | 29.0% | 23.6% | 19.7% | 14.5% | 13.2% |
Andrew Abbott
Abbott has struggled of late. In his last four starts, he has allowed 11 hits on eight earned runs in 23.2 innings. Could it be that he is just getting tired and worn down? Abbott surpassed his innings total from 2024 in his most recent start and has now pitched the most innings in his professional career (139.0) in what is now his third season in the majors.
Abbott overwhelmingly faces right-handed hitters, and they also hit him better than left-handed hitters do. He does have a strikeout rate above 20% for both righties and lefties though, while keeping his walk rate as low as possible. Despite his struggles, he’s still only walked four batters in his last four starts and all four of those walks came against St. Louis last Saturday.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 435 | 90 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 7% | 21% | .226 | .283 | .371 |
| LHH | 131 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5% | 25% | .215 | .264 | .322 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Change | Curve | Sweeper | Cutter | |
| Velo | 92.7 | 84.7 | 80.9 | 82.7 | 88.6 |
| Usage | 47.3% | 20.0% | 15.7% | 12.6% | 4.3% |
Game Details:
- Time: 6:40 PM EDT
- Place: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network
- Radio: 700 WLW (Cincinnati area)
- Weather: 81 degrees, mostly cloudy, 50% chance of an isolated thunderstorm
News and NotesĀ
Today’s Roster Moves
Do-Or-Die Time for the Cincinnati Reds
Dayton’s Streak Snapped
NL Wild Card Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Fangraph’s Playoff Odds |
| Chicago | 80 | 60 | +5.0 | 99.8% |
| San Diego | 76 | 64 | +1.0 | 96.8% |
| NY Mets | 75 | 65 | – | 95.0% |
| San Francisco | 71 | 69 | 4.0 | 4.3% |
| CINCINNATI | 70 | 70 | 5.0 | 2.5% |
| Arizona | 70 | 71 | 5.5 | 1.3% |
| St. Louis | 70 | 71 | 5.5 | 0.9% |
Free Sal!
+10K
Let’s go Reds! Got win game #1 to get a sweep!
Sal isn’t playing . I better get the popcorn ready and read all the comments how the world is coming to an end.
oh brother………
Sooooo, most comments of complaint are about the Red’s lack of offense. So the Reds call up a kid with a 60+ hit tool with 20 home runs and 30+ doubles and he sits more than he plays. Yeah, go grab that popcorn and see you in the apocalypse.
So good
You do understand these are minor league stats, right?
Oh yes, Richard I do. Thanks for the astute observation. Guess they don’t mean a thing in projecting his future.
Post edited.
Don’t avoid the swear filter. You’ve been around plenty long enough to know better
Awe did I touch a nerve snowflake?
Cut this crap out. You all can have disagreements, but posting like this is straight up aggressively looking for an argument. Don’t do it.
Will you edit name calling too?
If and when I see it, I’ll address it.
I love Elly, and Iām assuming thereās something physically wrong with him, but whatever the reasonā¦.has any team ever had a #3 hitter and kept him there with one home run in two months?
The answer has to be no.
Only name that leaps to mind is Rod Carew who was the 3 hitter for the 1972 Twins through mid-July. That was the year he hit zero homers and won the AL batting title. They moved him up to 2 after.
And you’ll never guess what record Minnesota ended up with that year…
Once again, the Reds face their Kryptonite! A lefty SP! Peterson has lost 4 of his last 5 starts but I’m sure he will revert to his All-Star form against the formidable Reds offense!
The Reds, thanks to their abysmal record in their last 13 games (3-10), now need to sweep this series before heading out west! Is it doable? Probably not but we lifelong Reds fans can hope!
The next 6 games will essentially decide the Reds playoff hopes!
Some early runs would help Abbott settle in! As usual, the Mets to pitch cautiously to are Lindor and Soto!
Gotta dig deep and win this first game of this series!
Hope there won’t be Mets HR Derby just Reds…
77-77
If offense scores 9 runs or so like they did the last 2 games, I like our chance to take this game. Win or lose itāll be fun to see Marte, Hayes, and MM hit. Will MM resurrection continue?
Leadoff walk unbelievable ā¦ already started
Ballgame
3 to 0 a fine start.
This is not how you want to start out the game. Walk the leadoff batter. The Reds ignore soto’s steal of third. Three runs already scored. And Friedl has to go up over the wall to take away a home run! Good grief!
The pitching has really gone south, Oh well on to 2026.
Abbott has worn out again.
I agree, Mark! I think Abbott is out of gas!
Great start! Leadoff WALK which comes around to score! Then Soto steals 3rd and scores on a sacrifice fly! Now another run to trail 3-0! This game may be over before it starts! Pathetic!
NOT the start we needed! Plus, a 27-pitch 1st inning by Abbott means a busy night for the Reds bullpen!
Mets off to a playoff style start … Maybe that will sap their motivation going forward. The Reds will need more than 3 anyway.
As I said, need offense to score 9 runs or soā¦
The lead off walk just set the tempo for that whole inning, poor work from Abbott.
They should burn those Citi Connect uniforms.
I’ll second that.
They are perfect for those high humidity sunny days in the high 90’s …
And the Reds go meekly on nine pitches in the first.
Mets broadcasters ragging on the Citi Connects…
The things started very ugly …Abbott has received a pair of weak contacts which became runs ….nothing is in the Reds way
Guess there are about as many folks hanging out here as in those right field seats at GABP.
At least Abbott escaped in the second. Maybe that is a start.
Boy the Reds are smashing the ball in a must win game.
It will take Hayes and Mm to get this offense going. Whats with groundball?
They should have read Ashley’s scouting report on this pitcher… Inducing ground balls is what he does.
I donāt think Reds have a scouting team. Money saving
Peterson threw 2 scoreless innings on 17 pitches… What are the Reds doing?
The Reds are establishing their ground game.
Doesn’t look like the Mets are letting up … This time Vientos goes long, and Abbott is not fooling anyone.
No heās not. AA has not been sharp the last 3 starts or so
Goldsmith said Tito essentially said he would be playing every day.Tito said he would use Sal at first second third and DH and that he had talked to MM about it.Tito also said he would not forget the players that have been grinding it out all year long in that it wouldn’t be fair.Its safe to say Stewart will not be playing every day.One player will not help that much but again why bring him up to set unless he has something going on.
So, tonight’s Mets SP lost 4 of his last 5 starts giving up 8,2,6 and 4 runs in those losses! That means the Reds will probably not score a single run off Pederson tonight!
Free Sal and HInds and CES and HRod and anybody else looking for a job next year.
2 of them applied before, but were sent away based on results.
Gotta cheer our small successes … Basehit by MM ! Way to go !
and TJ dbls to put men on second and third !
and Marte hits a sac fly to bring in one !
Guess what?
2 players in a row go oppo….
The Reds start hitting
Now Marte…sac fly, opposite way.
Abbott comes out with vengeance in the 4th, nice 3 pitch K.
But with 2 outs it’s back to back dbls for the Mets … They are focused.
OK, Redlegs, you see what kind of game it is …
0 and 2, but Hays still comes thru ! Basehit
when Spencer Steer goes long in the count … well it wasn’t long, but it was a hit !
and Ty Steve dbls to bring in two … 5-3
Abbott making horrible pitches… It’s unbelievable how the Reds pitching is fading… just one scoreless inning of the last 11 !!
We have a game. Welcome back TS
where is everybody?!
There are a few that have nothing to say when the Reds do good….so they disappeared.
“you gotta believe!”…..wait…that was a Met’s thing. well, ya just gotta anyway!!!
Ke’Bryan needs to do something here … and a sac fly brings T.S. in from third, it’s 5-4
Hayes doing his job getting the bat on the ball. down one!
Steer’s speed beats the throw by an eyelash.
I thought it was a bad send by House, the throw beat him, but a great slide combined with bad tag.
That was such a horrible send and it might end up winning them the game. I love it.
Now if we can keep a lid on these Mets…
Big out there, one more to go in the 5th.
Two sac flies in the same game.
I’m overjoyed.
Can our pitching not go a couple innings without giving up runs?
Hays with a superman diving catch.
He’s played a solid LF with some great plays.
He went with Abbott too long, hope I am wrong.
Marte hits it 106 mph….diving catch…out
McNeil hits it 28. mph…base hit.
Francona hands the ball to Connor Phillips to end the 5th … and it works !
Watching on the small screen. Just opened up the laptop to comment. Good to see we’ve got some fight in us at the moment.
Looked like the Mets were selling out to the fastball to get on top of it, and Abbott’s command of everything else was spotty so it worked. He battled.
Top of the Reds order is not hot tonight … goes down 1-2-3 in the 5th.
Walk to Soto there was OK, 1st base was open …
and we get the dbl play to end the sixth unscathed.
Huge DP right there!
Now to get something going and end Peterson’s night in the bottom.
I have given Tito a pass all year but after a day off and no Stewart tonight I must ask why Phillips ?This is the season right here unless somebody thinks we can come back from 6 out and pass both the Giants and Mets.Now we may never get another runner on base tonight but we have to keep it at one run don’t we?Hope it works out.
He was probably tired of seeing Barlow allow more inherited runners to score.
Could be but if you ride the guys that got you here on offense don’t you do that with the pitchers as well?Of course I have no clue who can or who can’t go tonight but I just thought it was risky especially after the back to back walks.No harm done.
How do you rank ’em, anyway? Pagan, Santillan, then Martinez/Barlow, and then… the other 5 I have no clue. Feels like you can make a case for pretty much any order.
Andujar battles and singles on the 11th pitch of the at bat… Here we go !
and they change pitchers to face Stephenson… runners on 1st and 2nd, one out.
That Andujar AB was wild. And after all that he gets an oppo hit on a pitch nowhere near the zone…
Big opp here.
Taking out Andujar the 6th? Not sure thatās prudent.
He can’t run.
He can hit (later).
and they are loaded for McLain with 2 outs here in the 6th…
That Stanek is one tough cookie …
MM, please get a big hit here
His Achilles heel flared up.
Breaking ball in the dirt.
Well NUTS!!
It’s not his shoulder, it’s the down and away sliders.
Why is Lux not hitting for MM there?
Valid question.
Thanks that donāt surprise me -MM swinging at a pitch in the dirt.
Tyler doesn’t make contact and MM goes down on 3 pitches with the slider way out of the zone getting him again.Hold em and keep the pressure on cause it ain’t over yet.
And McClain chased it again, killing a rally!
Time for the top of the order to earn their keep.
Brooks Raley shut them down 1-2-3 throwing nothing but junk…
Who is going to step up?
Who is on First
Nick Martinez celebrates defense behind him with as much joy as any pitcher ever. A+ hype man.
Stewart must be ailing if Espy is now the DH.Anybody got any idea?
Cowboy said that was the worst call of the night.
Truly bad call….on top of just getting knee-capped.
Then 2 pitches to Elly…not strikes…called as such.
Thatās a bunch of bad calls in a row.
We need to take humans out of the balls and strikes calls. Humans clearly canāt do (or wonāt do it) well.
Unfortunately, with only the challenge system coming, we’ll have to endure that for several more years, until they deem that not enough and go full ABS.
Itāll be worse is a limited challenge system. Umpires will care less than they do now.
Then Brooks Raley comes on for the Mets in the 7th throwing nothing but junk, and shuts down the top of the order, 1-2-3.
Has anybody else noticed that this Reds team seems to average a SO per inning?
I am sorry but Elly, hurt or not, just isn’t giving this team solid as bats.
No mention of him getting robbed of 2 strikes in the AB.
So, Nick, you walk Lindor with one man on base to get to Soto with 2 men on base?
All a part of the master plan
Whew ! Huge out there to get Soto … Now we got to step up and score !
Awright ! Lux with a leadoff single !
Is it just me but do we have another awful HP umpire tonight?
Tyler Rogers gets Hays on 3 pitches … this won’t do !
and our hopes now rest on Will Benson …
Steer just missed the game tying double….by inches.
No comment on getting robbed of 2 strikes in his AB?
I don’t know who the Mets closer is these days, but I’m not looking forward to it.
The Diaz brother that can actually still pitch.
Saw Alexis got DFA’d today
Apparently Reds missed their big chance of the game in the 6th after that horrible McLain at bat…Hope I am wrong
He’s up again after a Hayes leadoff single !
I’m with Doug in his column this week where this is a do or die series. Gonna take a mighty comeback right here to take the first step.
Awright ! Lux with a leadoff single !
and now a walk to Mclain.
Please lay one down Friedl !
Friedl walks, Marte K’s, one down with ’em loaded for Elly !
I’m gonna say that Elly just froze up there … Still one out left.
Marte at least tried … this is beyond ridiculous.
Up to Lux to extend it.
Biggest chokers ever ā¦ bye bye season over
Elly never even took the bat off his shoulder! Pathetic! Best player on the club according to many posters!
Trade him for Bobby Witt
Did Elly even swing that at bat?
Inexcusable.
Inexcusable.
The Reds had the bases loaded with no outs … and came up empty. Kind of epitomizes the season.
Yep.
So close, and yet so far. Good, but just not quite good enough.
That’s the Reds.
Absolutely a sad, pathetic ending to their chances. Reds fans really donāt even believe theyāll score one with bases loaded and NO OUTS! And they donāt. Because theyāre a weak, failing team. Done for this year.
The most Red’s way to lose ever.
You would think, but I was just happy Marte didn’t try to bunt š
Elle…..unbelievable….just…..unbelievable
Elly isnāt mentally a superstar yet. Heās young so maybe (probably) he gets there, but it feels like heās been the opposite of clutch all year. How do you watch three strikes in the bottom of the 9th with bases loaded in a playoff chase? Heās beyond shook.
Wonder if Boras is regretting not signing an extension sooner? I feel like heās cost himself some money this year.
Weāve had too many losses that have felt like this. Itās a cultural thing as much as a talent thing. With a proper owner, the whole front office would be gone, including the medical staff.
Gone fishin.
Unbelievable. Thats all I have to say.
Game, set, match, season.
Pressure is off now for all of us.
So frustrating to watch a Diaz brother blowing a save and we hand it back to him.
I have been saying for a long time there is something going on with Elly. That situation and he doesn’t get the bat off his shoulders. There is no way he should be in the line up tomorrow, not that it matters, the season is over losing 11 of 14.
I have been saying for a long time there is something going on with Elly. That situation and he doesn’t get the bat off his shoulders. There is no way he should be in the line up tomorrow, not that it matters, the season is over losing 11 of 14.
This has been maybe the toughest loss of the season….Marte worked a 3-2 count and missed that off-speed pitch but Elly was pathetic… he looked absolutely unconfident , pressed , scared I don’t know what happened to him. He consistently fail in clutch moments….and this was a really clutch moment of the season…Literally they are saying good bye …
Exactly. Elly looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. If thats how you perform under big time pressure then I don’t need you on my team. He looked frightened…..and I don’t care about his bases loaded #s vs the Pirates in May or the O’s when we’re already up 14-1
There is no excuse for that AB by Ellyā¦.you do not swing at a single pitch with the game and season on the lineā¦just disgusting
Elly is not hitting home runs. He leads the league in errors . He has been striking out in key situations. He is not stealing based. Remind me again why he is considered a super star.
His sister died midseason. He’s 23.
Crushing loss! If you cannot at least score the tying run from 3rd base with NO outs you deserve to lose!
Another double digit SO night with 9 LOBs and 1-7 with RISP!
Again, any Reds coach with the words “hitting” or batting in their job title needs to be fired at the end of this miserable season!
I hope someone gets fired at the end of the seasonā¦..I donāt care whoā¦.just anybody
Let’s start with Krall! Wishful thinking!
Is this what they mean by #GetKralled? We all knew it was coming.
Said it weeks ago that Friedl and Elly are worn out and need some time off.Friedl got one day the infamous Marte is starting in center day.Elly was at DH for a day then right back on the field.Been favoring a leg all year I believe was reported and we can’t give him a day.Same with Steer who finally got a couple of days off and Hays who since his last IL stint rarely plays back to back days in the field and Andujar and his quad.I get it its that time of year when everybody is dinged up but what is going on with this team.This team with several players at less then 100% almost all year and we can’t rest them and maybe help them heal up.How is it possible that they believe these guys at less the 100% is better then somebody else we can call up or put in the game.No excuse for Elly in not swinging at all none what’s so ever but come on the walking wounded out there every night.Andujar removed in the 6th I guess because he can’t run?This is absurd but glad its over now and football season starts this weekend.
Yep Roger! I’m on to football whether it’s college football or the NFL!
Another thingā¦.right after Friedl walked on 4 pitchesā¦.Marte comes upā¦and instead of making him throw a strike-he swings at the 1st pitch which was a ballā¦.what ever happened to smart baseball?
Never, ever use the words “smart baseball” with this 2025 Reds team! They are just NOT a good fundamental, i.e. smart, baseball team for some reason!
Can we move on to football now? The Reds are done. No wait. My steak is done. The Reds are finished. I consider myself as big a Reds fan as anyone on this site and it hurts me to see another season end with the Reds being no more than just a distant wannabe contender. I’m not going to throw anyone under the bus for how this organization, manager or players have repeatedly failed to produce. There’s no point in doing that. I think new ownership is way overdue but I don’t see anything changing in that regards. I will try to remain a Reds fan but it’s getting harder and harder to do so. My interest in baseball in general continues to diminish over the years and that’s mainly because I think I will never see a World Championship banner in Cincinnati again. I appreciate the hard work that Doug and others put into this site. I love reading everyone’s opinions and comments. Some I agree with and some I don’t. We are all experts in our own mind. Lol. I will continue to read the comments on this site but I am making this my last. I wish everyone the best for the remainder of this year. Maybe… just maybe… next year will be the year.