Hunter Greene shuts down Mets as Brandon Sproat’s encouraging debut ends in 3-2 loss
Reds ace strikes out 12 in one-hit outing; rookie Sproat yields three runs in six strong innings as Mets fall at Great American Ball Park
CINCINNATI — Hunter Greene was nearly untouchable and Brandon Sproat’s encouraging major league debut was left to the luck of the scoreboard Sunday, as the Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Mets 3-2 at Great American Ball Park.
Greene struck out 12 and allowed one hit and one run over seven innings, while the hard-throwing righty regularly touched triple digits and held the Mets to three hits. Sproat, making his first big-league start, worked six innings of quality stuff — seven strikeouts with a six-pitch mix and a sinker that reached 98 mph — but departed after yielding three runs on three hits and four walks and took the loss.
Greene cruised through the lineup, not allowing a baserunner to reach by hit until Brett Baty’s solo homer in the third. He fanned the first five Mets hitters he faced and finished with 12 strikeouts, using a 99.6 mph heater, a 100.4 mph four-seamer and 101.1 mph heat late in his outing to end threats. The only leadoff baserunner Greene surrendered came when he walked Pete Alonso to lead off the seventh.
Sproat, who arrived from Triple-A Syracuse and jumped into a Mets rotation that already features Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, looked like a high-upside arm through the early innings. He did not allow a hit until there was one out in the sixth, when Noelvi Marte laced a looping single that set up an RBI double by Elly De La Cruz and an RBI single by Austin Hays to push Cincinnati’s lead to 3-1.
Sproat had an unusual linecard moment: he became one of the few prospects to record his first career earned run before allowing his first career hit, thanks to a walk to Marte in the fourth that led to a sacrifice fly after a steal and a groundout. He departed after six innings with seven strikeouts, four walks and three runs allowed.
Offensively, the Mets were largely stymied by Greene’s dominance. New York finished with three hits. The lone rally came in the ninth when Juan Soto homered with one out. Alonso reached on an error by De La Cruz and Brandon Nimmo followed with a single, but Starling Marte grounded into a double play that ended the game and extended the Mets’ dubious streak to 0-59 this season when trailing after eight innings.
Noelvi Marte’s sixth-inning single and the subsequent two-run surge by Cincinnati proved decisive as the Reds held on to claim the series and tighten the National League wild-card race. The loss trimmed New York’s cushion in the chase; the Mets are 76-67 and had been four games ahead of Cincinnati and 3½ games ahead of the San Francisco Giants before the club’s contest concluded.
The game produced contrasting messages for the teams. Greene reinforced his status as a frontline starter for the Reds with a vintage dominant outing, regularly overpowering hitters and keeping his pitch count manageable through seven innings. The Mets, meanwhile, received confirmation that Sproat’s fast-rising repertoire can challenge big-league hitters; he mixed breaking pitches that elicited weak contact with high-velocity sinks and four-seamers.
New York manager and front-office evaluators will take the positives from Sproat’s debut even as the club absorbed a costly loss in a compressed playoff race. Cincinnati’s victory gave the Reds a win over a contending opponent and underscored Greene’s role in keeping Cincinnati in the mix down the stretch.
The teams will shift focus to upcoming matchups and the remaining weeks of the regular season as both clubs jockey for positioning in the National League wild-card picture.