The red-hot New York Mets welcome in the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night to kick off a three-game series in Queens. The Mets come into this series flying high after knocking around the second-place Braves over the weekend. The Mets took three of four games and are now six and a half games up on the Atlanta in the NL East Division. The Reds come in sporting a modest two-game win streak and are 6-4 in their last ten games. On the mound in Monday night's opener will be New York native Justin Dunn (1-3, 3.75) of the Reds taking on right-hander Chris Bassitt (8-7, 3.61) of the Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 710pm EST.
The Cincinnati Reds were not supposed to be this formidable after trading away two of their best starting pitchers, two thirds of their outfield and team's leading home run hitter over the past week. Strangely, someone forgot to tell the Reds that. Over the weekend, Cincinnati took two of three games from the Brewers, knocking the Brewers out of first-place in the NL Central Division. The series win over the Brewers marked the third straight series win for the Reds, their best stretch of the season. On Sunday, Graham Ashcraft, filling in for yet another Reds starter out of action–Hunter Greene, who was placed on IL before the series, scattered four hits over 5.2 innings to keep the game close. The Reds took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Donovan Solano in the 10th to secure their 8th win in 10 games.
6-1-1 in our last 8 series??
— Cincinnati Reds ( @Reds) August 7, 2022
The Reds are finding a way despite a rash of change over the past week, with the most vital being the starting rotation. The Reds traded away all-star Luis Castillo to the Mariners, Opening Day starter Tyler Mahle to the Twins and just placed rookie flamethrower Hunter Greene on IL. As a result, the Reds will turn to one of their latest acquisitions, Justin Dunn, to make the start on Monday night. The former Mariner will be making his 11th appearance of the season and first since June 17th. He is making his first start since leaving that June 17th performance with a sore right shoulder. His best month was in May when he made five starts for the Mariners and went at least five innings in four of those starts and had an ERA of 2.52 for the month.