17 Runners Stranded and Nobody in Baseball Can Believe How Cincinnati Blew It

Alright, you gotta see this. If you thought *our* blood pressure gets high watching runners on base, you weren't watching the Reds in New York yesterday. They choked harder than a rookie trying to hit a curveball at T-Mobile, leaving a mind-boggling SEVENTEEN runners on base against the Mets. Yeah, you read that right: 17. Seventeen opportunities to break that game open, and they just left 'em hanging. The Mets ended up taking the game 4-2, avoiding a home sweep that would have been a first since way back in 2013. Seriously, how do you even do that?

The Basepaths Were a Graveyard for Cincinnati

You just can't make this up. Cincinnati had guys on base, like, constantly. In the first three innings alone, they put two runners on in each one! They finally broke through in the third when Nathaniel Lowe singled up the middle, scoring Elly De La Cruz, who'd gotten on with a throwing error by Mets pitcher Jonah Tong. But that was it for a while. Then, in the sixth, they loaded the bases *again* against Tobias Myers and Brooks Raley. Sal Stewart chopped an infield single to third, making it 3-2, but guess what? They left the bases loaded right after, with Suarez flying out to center. That pushed their left on base total to an insane 12 through just six innings. It's almost impressive how many chances they squandered.

Mets' Offense Woke Up, Reds' Pitching Took a Hit

While the Reds were busy setting LOB records, the Mets actually remembered how to score. Before this game, they'd been brutal, putting up two or fewer runs in six straight games and losing their last five. But Juan Soto decided he'd had enough, blasting his 12th homer of the season, his sixth in seven games! It was off Andrew Abbott, a hanging curveball that just caught too much of the plate, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead early. Eric Wagaman added a monster 415-foot solo shot that came off the bat at 110 mph. Ouch. Abbott, who had been on a personal four-game win streak, took his first loss since April 12, despite a quality start, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits over six innings. Meanwhile, Carson Benge came through twice with two-out RBI singles, including one in the seventh that made it 4-2. Mets closer Devin Williams even tried to make it interesting, walking the bases loaded with one out in the ninth, but he somehow recovered, striking out Dane Myers and Blake Dunn for his eighth save. Look, this is early season stuff, but when you strand 17 guys, that's not just bad luck, that's a serious problem for any team hoping to hang around. You gotta be aggressive, you gotta convert. Every single at-bat matters, every single run.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.