On Friday night the Cincinnati Reds fell behind early and while they had plenty of opportunities, they couldn’t quite come through when they needed it the most. In the end, the New York Mets held on for a 5-4 win, stranding the bases loaded in the 9th inning to take the first game of a series that felt like Cincinnati needed a sweep to have any chance at making the playoffs in 2025. Tonight the two teams are back on the field at Great American Ball Park with a scheduled first pitch at 6:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
New York Mets |
Cincinnati Reds |
| Francisco Lindor – SS | TJ Friedl – CF |
| Juan Soto – RF | Noelvi Marte – RF |
| Brandon Nimmo – LF | Elly De La Cruz – SS |
| Pete Alonso – 1B | Austin Hays – LF |
| Jeff McNeil – 2B | Gavin Lux – DH |
| Mark Vientos – DH | Spencer Steer – 1B |
| Brett Baty – 3B | Sal Stewart – 3B |
| Luis Torrens – C | Jose Trevino – C |
| Cedric Mullins – CF | Matt McLain – 2B |
| Jonah Tong – RHP | Brady Singer – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Brady Singer | 143.1 | 4.08 | 1.26 | 52 | 140 |
| Jonah Tong | 5.0 | 1.80 | 1.20 | 0 | 6 |
| Links: Brady Singer’s Stats | Jonah Tong’s Stats |
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Brady Singer
Things have gone well for Brady Singer over his last four starts as he’s allowed just five earned runs in 24.0 innings. Three of those runs came in his last start – a 7-4 win by the Reds over St. Louis.
The splits this season for Singer are big. He’s been very good against right-handed hitters, who aren’t hitting for average, getting on-base much, nor are they hitting for power. Lefties aren’t walking much against him, but they are hitting for what’s a solid average in 2025 and when they do get hits against him they are showing good power.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 262 | 53 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 55 | .228 | .303 | .336 |
| LHH | 344 | 75 | 16 | 4 | 11 | 30 | 85 | .248 | .324 | .437 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Slider | Cutter | |
| Velo | 91.5 | 92.2 | 82.3 | 87.9 |
| Usage | 10% | 40% | 38% | 11% |
Jonah Tong
The Mets called up Jonah Tong last week to join their rotation. The Canadian had been dominant in the minor leagues, making 20 starts in Double-A with a 1.59 ERA and two starts in Triple-A where he didn’t allow a run, throwing 113.2 innings between the two stops and allowing just 58 hits while striking out 179 batters. In his debut he allowed one earned run, but was charged with three unearned runs while giving up six hits in 5.0 innings.
We need to remember that Tong has only made three starts above Double-A when looking at his splits, but those splits do tell us that guys in Double-A hit him like they were all pitchers. He’s given up just two home runs all season – both to lefties. Lefties make more contact but have still struck out 37% of the time that they’ve faced him.
Splits (MiLB & MLB in 2025)
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 277 | 41 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 115 | .166 | .254 | .198 |
| LHH | 188 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 70 | .137 | .229 | .208 |
Pitch Usage (AAA & MLB in 2025)
| 4-seam | Cutter | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 95.7 | 87.3 | 77.5 | 85.4 |
| Usage | 57% | 5% | 8% | 29% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: FanDuel Sports Network, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 69°, partly cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Terry Francona not available
The Reds will be without Terry Francona tonight as he’s out with an illness – likely whatever has been going around the clubhouse over the past few days. Freddie Benavides will manage the game tonight. This was first reported by C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.
Davey Johnson passes away
Former Cincinnati Reds manager Davey Johnson has passed away at the age of 82. He managed the Reds for part of 1993 through the 1995 season. He went 204-172 with the Reds and led them to 1st place finishes in each of the two full seasons he managed the team (1994 and 1995). Johnson is the last manager to take the Reds beyond the first round of the playoffs when Cincinnati swept the Dodgers in the divisional series before being swept by Atlanta in the NLCS. You can read a much more thorough piece on Johnson’s playing and managerial career at MLB.com right here.
Wild Card Standings
With the division firmly out of reach, we are switching to the Wild Card standings for the rest of the season.
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Chicago | 81 | 60 | +5.0 | 99.9% |
| San Diego | 76 | 65 | 0.0 | 94.5% |
| New York | 76 | 65 | 0.0 | 96.5% |
| San Francisco | 72 | 69 | 4.0 | 6.6% |
| Arizona | 71 | 71 | 5.5 | 2.0% |
| Cincinnati | 70 | 71 | 6.0 | 1.4% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
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