The Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets will continue a three-game series on Tuesday night at Citi Field. Monday's series opener finished by a 5-1 final in favor of the Mets, who cashed in as a massive -344 favorite. Cincinnati is well out of playoff contention at 44-64, while the Mets hold a seven-game lead in the NL East at 71-39.
These teams met in Cincinnati back in early July, with the Mets taking two of three on the road.
While the Reds entered Monday night on a solid 6-2 stretch of play, they looked overmatched by the Mets in the opener as starting pitcher Justin Dunn struggled in his first outing of the season after recovering from a shoulder issue. Only a Joey Votto RBI groundout in the fourth inning prevented the shutout, with the Reds going a miserable 1-9 with runners in scoring position on the night.
Dunn went 4.2 innings in his Reds debut, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two to take the loss. Jose Barrero and Jake Fraley both recorded a pair of singles to lead the Reds offense, which didn't have an extra-base hit for the entire game.
Cincinnati is down somewhat on the money line on the season as it hasn't recovered from a horrific 3-22 start to the year while going 52-56 on the run line. Overs are 53-52-3 for the Reds, with six of their last sev en games going under the betting total.
The Reds have been a middle of the pack scoring offense at 4.31 runs per game on a .688 team OPS. It hasn't gone nearly as well on the pitching side as Cincinnati ranks second-worst in baseball with a 4.99 collective ERA including a mark of 5.04 from a horrendous bullpen.
Donovan Solano is having a solid season at the plate, batting .298/.351/.446 with 16 RBI and 12 runs scored in 36 games when healthy. Joey Votto continues to post above average numbers even in his late 30s with a .735 OPS, 11 homers and 39 driven in.
Veteran Mike Minor is set to make his 12th start of the season, hoping to get a rough campaign back on track as he's 1-8 with a 6.19 ERA across 56.2 innings. The 34-year-old is coming off another loss last Wednesday, when he allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over 5.1 innings against the Miami Marlins, striking out six.
< p>Cincinnati is without its best player in catcher Tyler Stephenson (clavicle surgery) with backup Aramis Garcia (finger discomfort) is also out. Starting pitchers Vladimir Gutierrez (Tommy John surgery), Robert Duggar (shoulder discomfort), Hunter Greene (strained shoulder) and Connor Overton (stress reaction in back) are out. The bullpen is decimated with Tejay Antone (Tommy John surgery), Daniel Duarte (elbow inflammation), Jeff Hoffman (forearm tightness), Tony Santillan (strained lower back), Lucas Sims (back surgery), Justin Wilson (Tommy John surgery) and Art Warren (strained forearm) sidelined.