Game #116: Reds 3, Mets 0

(NYDailyNews.com)

It was a purist's dream. Then Jay Bruce came and rudely woke everyone up.

Bruce launched a 3-run homer off Josh Edgin in the bottom of the 9th and the Mets' wasted opportunities cost them in the series opener against the Reds 3-0.

The Bad Stuff:

• Manny Acosta was brought in in the bottom of the 9th to help preserve a scoreless tie. A quick walk and a single quickly led to his departure in favor of Josh Edgin. At this point all Mets fans could hope for was a hard-fought 1-0 loss, but Jay Bruce sent a 1-2 fastball deep into the Cincinnati night to make it an agonizing 3-0 loss.
• New York had all the chances in the world to plate a run or two but hit 0-8 with RISP and stranded 10 men on base.

The Good Stuff:

• Take out the 9th and you get a real quality pitching performance by the guys in blue caps. Chris Young lasted 5 2/3 scoreless innings and Ramon Ramirez, Bobby Parnell, and Jon Rauch combined to take the team through the 8th.

Final Analysis:
The Mets' pitching staff, start and relief, did everything in its power to help the team win tonight. Unfortunately, its effort was undone by an equally good Reds staff and a lack of clutch hitting from the New York bats. For a team that relies so heavily on 2-out hits, not getting them is, to say the least, problematic. Gotta have those runs, man!

It must've been a great game to watch. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't watch it on MLB.TV because I live in Cincinnati's blackout zone and for some reason FSN Indiana (Ohio) decided to broadcast poker over baseball. What do you say to that, GOB? Fortunately I won't have that problem the next two days: tomorrow I'm down there at GABP myself. More to come.

MM