The big leagues are full of players better than the minor leagues are, and after giving up just two home runs in the minor leagues the Cincinnati Reds welcomed Jonah Tong by crushing there home runs off of him as they topped the New York Mets on Saturday night. The win evened up the series and brought Cincinnati back to the .500 mark on the season.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Mets (76-66) | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (71-71) | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Singer (13-9) L: Tong (1-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Cincinnati grabbed the lead early on with a 2-out rally in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Spencer Steer walked on seven pitches and then came in to score when Sal Stewart crushed his first big league home run to dead center, just out of reach of a leaping Cedric Mullins at the wall.
In the top of the 3rd the Mets would put pressure on Brady Singer. Back-to-back 1-out walks were followed by an infield hit to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Brandon Nimmo would follow to cut the Reds lead to 2-1. Pete Alonso was then hit by a pitch to load the bases once again, but Singer got a groundout to end the threat.
Two pitches into the bottom of the 3rd Cincinnati got that run back when Matt McLain hit a solo home run. The Reds would tack on another run in the 4th when Austin Hays clobbered a ball into the seats in left field to make it 4-1.
Francisco Lindor would pick up a double in the top of the 5th inning, but he wouldn’t get further than that after he was caught stealing for the second time in the game. In the 6th the Mets would threaten again, this time around it was Pete Alonso with the double for New York. He would move to third on a groundout and Mark Vientos drew a walk with two outs to put runners on the corners. Brady Singer came through, though, striking out Brett Baty to end the inning and keep the Reds up by three.
After six strong innings from Singer, the game was turned over to Scott Barlow in the 7th inning and he gave up a leadoff home run to pinch hitter Jared Young. He’s later get into trouble in the inning when he walked Juan Soto and the Mets superstar stole second base to get himself into scoring position. Barlow locked in, though, and struck out Brandon Nimmo to end the threat.
Cincinnati’s offense went to work in the 7th, loading the bases with one out. TJ Friedl cashed in a run with a single before the Mets made a pitching change. Kevin Herget came in and struck out Noelvi Marte for the second out of the inning, but he walked Elly De La Cruz on five pitches to bring in another run as the Reds pushed their lead to 6-2.
Tony Santillan found himself in trouble in the 8th inning when he gave up a 1-out single and then a 2-out double that put two men in scoring position. Like Barlow an inning earlier, Santillan was able to pick up a strikeout to strand the runners and end the inning.
Emilio Pagan took over for the home club in the 9th inning. After striking out Cedric Mullins to start the inning he would give up a double to Francisco Lindor and a single to Juan Soto. A 58-foot splitter got by Jose Trevino for a wild pitch and brought Lindor in to score. Pagan picked up his second strikeout of the inning against Brandon Nimmo before battling it out with Pete Alonso, but he would strike out to end the game as Cincinnati held on for a 6-3 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Sal Stewart’s 2nd inning home run. It put the Reds in front and they never let go of their lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Brady Singer’s outing lowered his ERA on the season to 3.98. Since July 27th he’s made eight starts and has posted a 2.11 ERA with 14 walks and 52 strikeouts in 47.0 innings. He’s given up just two home runs and just 32 hits during that stretch. He hasn’t given up any home runs in his last five starts, all of which have gone six full innings.
The Reds only had six hits on the day and no Red had more than one, but half of their hits were home runs and those are the best kinds of hits to get.
Both teams walked plenty, but the Reds only struck out one more time than they walked, while the Mets had 11 strikeouts with their five walks.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds
Sunday September 7th, 1:40pm ET
Brandon Sproat (MLB Debut) vs Hunter Greene (5-4, 2.70 ERA)
Singer is a keeper.
Absolutely. See if he will sign an extension. We need a veteran who can take the ball every 5th day. Singer is extremely durable.
Perhaps pitching more than 150 innings in a season and getting stronger toward the finish line could rub off on some of the young guys.
Lesson for trades – league average pitching is always more valuable than league average offense.
Gotta extend him! He’s more valuable to this team, because more durable and reliable, than Greene, Abbott, or Lodolo.
What did Krall give up for Singer? India? Just India? What a steal!
Some credit for Krall/Meador.
India and Joey Wiemer.
I was one of the people who loved the trade to get Singer. The guy gives you a consistent quality outing. He gives the team a chance to win each time out. Plus, he seems to be durable and not get injured easily.
Nice to get a win and nice to get back to .500.
No further comment.
They did it again. They sucked me back in.
“Just when I thought I was out…. They pull me back in.”
Isn’t Singer a FA at the end of the season?
Controlled for 1 more year.
3rd Year arb.
Free agent in 2027
One reason the Reds traded for him was for the 2 years of control they’d have. No, the Reds did not sign him on the open market.
Nice bounce back win! But may be too little, too late to make any difference as Giants, Padres and Dbacks are ALL currently winning tonight!
Singer has been a blessing to this team with his 13 wins!
There were many people on Facebook (not on here) that didn’t want India traded. Not being sexist but most of the people who didn’t want India traded were women – I guess they thought he was cute. India was batting leadoff but he was moved out at the very latest at the trade deadline. A bad as his hitting has been this year, Matty M stats will be about equal to India.
Also a lot of local talk show hosts were wondering at the beginning of the year , what pitchers would give then 150 innings. Never mind that Singer had done that in the past. Not sure when his contract ends , but he needs to be here at least three more years.
I believe Singer signed a one-year deal with the Reds.
Puts the trade in perspective.
CenTexRed,
Every player signs a one-year deal with their team unless they sign a multi-year deal. The Reds traded for Singer and, as he was arbitration eligible, the 2 sides worked out a deal on a 1-yr contract. That has nothing to do with being a FA, though. A player does not become a FA, with some rare exceptions, until he has accumulated 6 seasons of service time. When the Reds traded for Singer, he only had 4 years of service time, so the Reds had 2 years of control. Yes, the legal side of baseball can be confusing.
The Cardinals just did what the Reds couldn’t do last night! The loaded the bases against the Giants in the bottom of the 9th inning, trailing 2-0. With NO OUTS and the bases loaded, the Cards got a run-scoring single followed by a 2-run double for the WIN! That’s what GOOD TEAMS do!
The Cardinals front office has already raised the white flag of surrender 2026. That is not what good teams do.
* for
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/st-louis-cardinals/news/cardinals-not-expected-be-competitive-2026-according-insider/ac2a43c264a5b77cdf496503
Play. Sal. Stewart. Every. Game.
Charlie Goldsmith article on Sal Stewart:
https://charlieschalkboard.substack.com/p/that-toughness-and-that-energy-thats?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3342490&post_id=172990065&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=5rk8fn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
He looked good at 3B, didn’t he? With his energy, he reminds me of Rose.
Reds should traded Petty for Rushing. Then,
C) Trevino, Rushing
1B) Marte
2B) Lux, Steer
3B Hayes
SS) McLain
LF) Hinds, Benson
CF) Freidl
RF) EDLC (it worked for Tatis, Jr.)
DH) Stewart
Hey JMB. Wait. What? The Dodgers offered up Rushing for Petty and they didn’t take it?
20 games left. Need 15 wins for Wild Card (my guess, not fact). That would be 86-76.
I’m not sure 15 wins would do it.
It might depend on which 15 they win since they have 3 with the Padres, who are a team they need to catch, and also 3 with the Cardinals, who they need to stay ahead of.
It’s going to take a miracle for the Reds to make the playoffs. Even if they win today, they are still 4 games back and San Fran and Arizona are also in the fight now. If they do it, they will be beating some pretty good odds.
I wonder who’s been the best Reds starter this season… Singer obviously is top 2 to me at this point. If that question has been asked at the AS break the answer without doubt had been Abbott but he is struggling last month and a half just when the team most needed him. Other choice could be Greene if he had been healthy and keeps his stats through more than 130 IP. Lodolo has been very solid but he is missing the most huge part of the fight for playoffs…
I believe Singer is arbitration eligible for 2026, and then a free agent for 2027 season.
So they can pay him his healthy and deserved increase for another year with the Reds, or decline arbitration and effectively turn him loose.
There is no way I can see that this wasn’t a good trade for the reds this year. Where would we have gotten the innings he provided? And quality starts? For a redundant player who will likely be DFA in the off season.
Thanks, that clarifies things for me viz Singer.
Given the cost and value of dependable SP, I couldn’t believe KC made the trade when they did.
I still wonder why.
I’m no huge fan of Krall, but the Reds were pretty well saddled with India and Krall found a way not only to get high return value, but also provided a new opportunity for India, as well.
Right now, I’m thinking it’s perhaps Krall’s best trade.
I feel like Singer is someone they may offer a deal to this winter. Any guess on what he might accept? I wouldn’t mind keeping him around another 3 years plus maybe a player option at the end for a 4th season.
Stewart should’ve been up earlier, but atleast they’re finally seeing what he can do.
The roster should be interesting. I expect Elly to have a much more explosive year and Marte to continue to mature. Where the rest fit who knows?
It may be unpopular here, but if McClain keeps hitting like his old self, the Reds might want to try to get a team friendly extension.
After a good spring g, he declined their offer. There must have been moments when he questioned that decision this season, but now that he’s doing well again, I’d guess he’ll bet on himself and wait for bigger money.
I get the feeling Mclain would prefer playing for a west coast team since he’s from that area. Maybe another Singer-like trade could be worked out.
Mclain last 7g. .429 .556 .952. WOW.
1 week doesn’t make a season. I don’t get why he has struggled all season and as soon as there is some pressure from Stewart with McLain’s playing time, he suddenly plays his heart out.
Hey William. Team friendly deal with Scott Boras as your agent? No one hires Boras as an agent to get a team friendly deal.
McLain switched agents several months ago fortunately.
I went to my last Reds game of the season tonight. It was a perfect night for baseball and the Reds won. That will have to do me until 2026.
MM batting average last 30 games: .266, last 15 games: .312, last 7 games: .421. Trending in the right direction. I said a while back, a little bit tongue in cheek, that I would take MM over Elly when game in the line, I triple down on it. Can’t wait to see what MM can do the last 18-19 games of the season.
Reds 2nd spot of the line up is cursed with Marte being the latest victim. Marte needs to figure out how to hit the change up quick because teams will go after him with this pitch. Elly has not figured it out, among many things he has not figured out.
Step by step , Sal Stewart will be the 2nd hitter
I actually like to see Elly hitting 2nd. He’s already cursed.
Stewart behind Freidl? That works! Then sign Schwarber to hit 3rd. Marte 4th, EDLC 5th.
Cincinnati Do,
You need a guy who can handle the bat hitting 2nd, not a guy who has no idea what the strike zone is.
Ever since Marte has moved into the 2nd spot in the lineup his numbers have started to drop. I wonder if anyone on the Reds has done well in the 2 spot?
Amazing what the home run ball can do for an anemic offense and imperfect bullpen.
I’d like to see an outfield of Dunn, Hinds and Marte for last 20 games. See what we have going into 2026.
That’s not going to happen, nor should it.
The Reds haven’t been eliminated yet.
If they are eliminated, then you might see the regulars play only 3 out of 4 games for the last 8 games or so.
It would be a useless sample size of 8-10 games.
There are no more call ups unless there is an injury.
Dunn is done. The Reds have no room for him on the 28 man active roster. Hinds also.
Dunn has career MLB BA about .150 over two seasons.
Johnny Bench batted .163 in his first year with the Reds.
I’m glad RLN wasn’t around in 1967 for you to try and tell the Reds management that Bench was Stench.
I almost used Bench’s start in a Hinds comp a couple of days ago because there is a difference of only 2 in PAs between them for Bench’s first “year” (Sept 1967) and Hinds’ present MLB career. 😉
Somewhere Sparky Anderson is laughing (if you know, you know).
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bench-002joh Bench was a star in 1966 at Peninsula (POY in Carolina League and had his number retired there) and nearly as good in 1967 at Buffalo (AAA) in 1967.
There is no parallel between Bench and Hinds. Bench was a superstar right away in 1968 for Reds. Hinds has not been anywhere close in 2024 or 2025.
PS of course you may not know that Reds management in ST 1968 thought Don Pavletich was better than Bench and made him the starting C on Opening Day 1968 and for the first two weeks or so.
I presume you just forgot.
One more. (I clicked two soon) Bench was an All-Star for his first 13 full seasons with the Reds (and ASG starter for his first 10 straight years).
No other Red in my lifetime has done either of those things.
Hinds has not and won’t come close to that.
Johnny Bench was 19 years old in ’67. Hinds will be 26 before next season is over.
Big difference. Maybe downshift with the Bench comparisons.
As I said, I *almost* used the Bench comp. Then thought better.
Another one I was flirting with was George Foster. He had more MLB plate appearances at a younger age than Hinds has had, but did not fully stick at MLB and break out until his age 25 season. In his age 24 season, he had about 5 times more AAA plate appearances than he did MLB plate appearances (550/43).
I backed off of using Foster because I figured he would be too obscure with many folks.
Hinds might pair well with Benson in LF next season, being that they probably won’t do what they need to do and go get a solid, productive OFer.
There can be room made on the active roster for these moves Oldtimer.
EDLC is hurt – DL HIM
Steer is hurt – DL him
Andujar is hurt – DL him
Friedl is hurt – sit him or DL him
There 3 spots cleared and playing time opened. Play matt st short, Lux at 2nd, Hays at DH, Dunn in center (who’s 2nd half in Louisville has been fantastic), Hinds in left (who was never given a real chance) , Marte in right, Sal at first, and Be son platoons with Hays and Hinds for rest of year.
We’re not making the playoffs but we do have things to play for.
The Reds, or any other team, is ever doing that before they are eliminated. You should be the GM that walks into that locker room and tells them that the season’s over, and that they are bringing up AAA retreads to finish out the season.
You’d better send a messenger.
Homeruns by Stewart, McLain, and Hays… The Reds had more runs than hits at one point. (4 runs on 3 hits) Yep, power plays.
The Reds have not had more than a five game winning streak all year, so expectations cannot be high for the playoffs at this point.
A good win today though against another quality team.
It would be good to see the Reds finish the season on a strong note.
Win tomorrow and we have a 4-2 record against the Mets. We also have winning record Arizona, tie SF, and will find out SD. We play competitive bb against contenders.
nice win! Tito should stay home tomorrow as well.
Go Cinci! Nice win!
https://www.redreporter.com/cincinnati-reds-rumors/48529/cincinnati-reds-roster-2026-preview-noelvi-marte-sal-stewart
Thanks for posting. Wick does a good job on his Reds site. Not as good as Doug Gray does though!
Doug does a great job. We’re very lucky.
Likely not enough to win the division or make the playoffs.
That’s probably beyond Doug’s control.
@Greenmtred, actually my comment was in reference to the Wick Terrell article. Obviously, the Reds need to do more in the off season than rely on utilitymen on the 26 and guys in Louisville. Though, as I’ve said before, go ahead and bring up a couple of guys and play them every day along with Stewart.
Thanks for clarifying, LDS. I did suspect that you were responding to the comment previous to mine, but a chance for levity should never be wasted.
We laugh or we cry. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground, @Greenmtred
The people that commented on that site that say to trade Singer are nuts. While not the best pitcher on the team he has been the most consistent. And once again he will throw 150 innings or more in a season.
I don’t recall reading any comments here that suggested trading Singer.
The overwhelming consensus has been that he has been a very solid, dependable pitcher and the that the trade with KC was a good one.
Now would be a really good time for the Reds to go on a 20 game winning streak.
I agree.
There were other times this season when it would have been a good idea, too, but I think they should start it today.
Any time would be a good time.
@LDS you just put a smile on my face thank you for that. I can only dream if that were to happen. Gotta get this win today first!
2026: Move Matt McClain to shortstop and De La Cruz to the outfield (CF/RF). De La Cruz makes too many errors at SS. I do not see this changing.
Agree 100%. Elly has not shown the consistency that is needed from your SS.
Multiple people have posted multiple times documenting how many errors Ozzie Smith and Barry Larkin made in their first few years. They both improved upon those numbers. Why wouldn’t Elly?
Prediction: Matt McClain makes a comeback in 2026.
I think you are probably right. Shoulder injuries take a long time to heal.
Didn’t Spencer Steer come up as a 2B? Steer should be moved back to 2B in 2026 . Stewart is much taller and fits the prototype of a 1B. That sets the line up for 2026 if you move MM to SS.
Please bump Duno up to AA now and let’s see if he is ready for prime time . Bench was 19 when he was brought up to the Reds.
And fix the bull pen in 2026. We have three or four reliable relievers that should be in the 2026 line up. Add four more.
Steer’s top 3 positions played in the minors was 3B 118G, 2B 88 G, and SS 49 G.
Duno is not going to skip A+ Dayton to go to AA Chattanooga.
Performance should certainly carry as much weight as prototype. Steer has been an exceptionally able defensive first baseman.
Stewart is at 1B today and Steer on the bench again. Personally I would have thought it would be time to give Lux a day off just going by the numbers.
Lux last 7 games – .238/.360/.333
Steer – .318/.423/.500
Yes, ride the hot hand.
this is in response to CenRedTex about Singer trade. My comment wasn’t directed to fans on REDLEGNATION about Singer. Several comments on the REDREPORTER site in response to what was linked here wanted to trade Singer.
Singer has 14 Quality Starts and that is worthing singing about.