Pete Alonso hits 50th homer to back Jacob deGrom, Mets beat Reds 8-1

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

The Cincinnati Reds got singles from the likes of Jose Peraza, Jose Iglesias, Josh VanMeter, Aristides Aquino, and Eugenio Suarez on the night. Heck, Aquino later added a 9th inning dinger to make this recap a tad longer, too.

That’s it, though. That was the entirety of the offense with New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom on the mound. Them’s the breaks sometimes, folks.

As for the Reds, Luis Castillo was largely good, but was bitten by a pair of dingers that would have otherwise loomed large had the Reds bats not done absolutely, positively nothing. His final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K on 103 pitches. A perfectly cromulent night had deGrom not been simply fantastic, really.

Key Plays

• Both Castillo and Mets ace Jacob deGrom cruised through 5 IP largely unscathed, as each reached the 6th inning having allowed just 3 baserunners. None had yet crossed the plate, but that changed in the Top of the 6th, unfortunately, as Castillo floated one of his patented change-ups onto the inside of the plate to lefty Jeff McNeil, and he skied a dinger just over the RF inside the foul pole for a solo blast, leaving the Reds behind 1-0.
• Castillo thought he had J.D. Davis struckout to end the Top of the 7th on a 3-2 count, but instead it was ruled a walk - which haunted immediately. Amed Rosario immediately pummeled a hanging slider over the wall in left-center, putting the Reds in a 3-0 hole.
• Sal Romano was on the mound for Pete Alonso’s 50th dinger of the season, a 437 foot blast that looked more like a 734 foot blast, a 2-run shot in the Top of the 8th that plated McNeil (who had singled) and left the Reds behind, 5-0.
• Raise your hand if you remembered the Reds still had Keury Mella on the roster. Be honest. Well, Mella took over for the Top of the 9th, and that wasn’t for the best. Brandon Nimmo poked a single, and he scored a batter later when McNeil doubled into the RF corner. An intentional walk to Alonso then followed, but Juan Lagares made that look silly with a 2-out RBI single into RF that made it 7-0. There was then arguing about dumb stuff on Twitter, I got distracted, and the Reds were down 8-0.
• Aquino poked another long dinger in the Bottom of the 9th, a solo shot off Jeurys Familia that made this an 8-1 game. That was it.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• The Cubs lost again today. That’s fun.
• It was the Cardinals who beat the Cubs, which dampens that fun, but it juuuust about hands the NL Central to St. Louis.
• Pete Alonso and Eugenio Suarez entered play tonight as dingerinos numero uno y dos on the season. Alonso popped swatter number 50, leaving Suarez now 2 behind.
• This loss ensures the Reds will yet again finish below .500.
• Speaking of this series, Saturday will feature Zach Wheeler up against Anthony DeSclafani in the middle-game of this set. It’s scheduled as an afternoon affair, too, with first pitch set for 4:10 PM ET.
• Tunes.