CINCINNATI \u2014 Edwin D\u00edaz surveyed the scene in Friday night\u2019s ninth inning and realized he had been here before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bases loaded, nobody out, game on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I had two choices: Win the game or lose the game,\u201d D\u00edaz said after the Mets beat the Reds 5-4 at Great American Ball Park. \u201cI made the right choice: Win the game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
All it took was a new pair of spikes \u2014 which he changed into on the field with one out in the inning and the bases loaded \u2014 for D\u00edaz to finish the job, holding the Mets\u2019 one-run lead. He struck out Elly De La Cruz before racing to cover first base for the final out on Gavin Lux\u2019s slow grounder to Luisangel Acu\u00f1a.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Mets pitcher Edwin D\u00edaz (39) reacts after the final out of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Sept. 5, 2025. Aaron Doster-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
New York Mets outfielder Starling Marte, third from right, shortstop Francisco Lindor, second from right, pitcher Edwin D\u00edaz (39) and catcher Francisco Alvarez, fourth from right, laugh as they walk off the field after defeating the Cincinnati Reds. AP<\/p>\n
New York Mets pitcher Edwin D\u00edaz, right, changes his cleats after one of the spikes broke in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. AP<\/p>\n
The Houdini act started a batter ahead of De La Cruz with a strikeout of Noelvi Marte.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Until he walked TJ Friedl to load the bases, D\u00edaz said he was slipping on the mound. What he didn\u2019t realize was the front spike was missing on his left shoe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new pair of spikes helped cure his allergic reaction to the strike zone (D\u00edaz walked two batters in the inning) and got the Mets a victory to begin this key series that holds NL wild-card race implications.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Juan Soto reacts during the Mets\u2019 game against the Reds on Sept. 5. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I changed it, I started feeling better,\u201d D\u00edaz said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Reds, desperate for wins to stay afloat in their pursuit of the NL\u2019s third wild card, fell six games behind the Mets in that race. The Giants, sandwiched in between the two teams, trail the Mets by four games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mets got a strong bullpen performance overall, as Ryne Stanek, Brooks Raley, Tyler Rogers and D\u00edaz combined for 3 \u00b2\/\u2083 scoreless innings behind a mediocre David Peterson start.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Stanek, who had been relegated mostly to low-leverage situations after a brutal August, entered with two runners on base in the sixth and walked a batter before escaping to preserve the Mets\u2019 5-4 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole bullpen, but Stanek in particular, I\u2019m proud of him,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to need all of those guys, and today they stepped up big time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peterson survived 5 \u00b9\/\u2083 innings in which he allowed four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk. It was hardly Peterson\u2019s best but a step in the right direction after his clunker against Miami last weekend that ended after two innings with eight runs allowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
David Peterson throws a pitch during the Mets\u2019 Sept. 5 game against the Reds. AP<\/p>\n
The Mets jumped on left-hander Andrew Abbott for three runs in the first inning. Mark Vientos brought in the first run with an infield single, and Brandon Nimmo\u2019s sacrifice fly \u2014 a ball on which center fielder Friedl reached over the fence to steal a home run \u2014 gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. Starling Marte\u2019s ensuing single extended the lead. The rally started with Francisco Lindor\u2019s leadoff walk and Juan Soto\u2019s single. Soto also stole third base ahead of Vientos\u2019 RBI roller.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vientos homered leading off the third to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. It was the first blast of the month for Vientos, who hit eight in August after delivering just six in the season\u2019s first three months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Nimmo went for a sliding catch on Friedl\u2019s sinking line drive in the third, and the ball bounced behind him for a double to put runners on second and third. Noelvi Marte followed with a sacrifice fly that decreased the Reds\u2019 deficit to 4-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Starling Marte connects on an RBI single during the Mets\u2019 Sept. 5 game against the Reds. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Brandon Nimmo of the New York Mets dives to catch a fly ball hit by Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes of the Cincinnati Reds during the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park on September 5, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Mets got the run back in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Lindor and Soto. It was the 92nd RBI of the season for Soto, who is second on the team behind Pete Alonso (113) in that category.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peterson struggled through the fourth, allowing a two-run double to Tyler Stephenson before Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes\u2019 sacrifice fly sliced the Mets\u2019 lead to 5-4. Austin Hays and Spencer Steer singled in succession to start the rally. Nimmo\u2019s throw home beat Stephenson by plenty on Hayes\u2019 fly to left, but Francisco Alvarez was late in applying the tag \u2014 a call that was upheld following a Mets replay challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peterson said it was \u201chuge\u201d to win the first game in this September series against a team chasing the Mets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe obviously know where they are at,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cBut at the same time, we\u2019re not really focused on that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014 Edwin D\u00edaz surveyed the scene in Friday night\u2019s ninth inning and realized he had been here…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":204697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,5048,31972,3693,1266,405,403,1305,5226,5225,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-204696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cincinnati-reds","10":"tag-edwin-diaz","11":"tag-juan-soto","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-mets","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115156793619644852","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}