Mets 1 - 2 Reds
Final
  for this game

Mets try to continue offensive surge vs. Reds

Sep 6, 2014 - 12:50 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - If they do it against Johnny Cueto, the New York Mets might just be on to something.

The Mets try to continue an offensive surge on the road Saturday afternoon, when they visit Great American Ball Park for the second of three games with the skidding Cincinnati Reds.

New York has won four of five road games while batting .340 as a team and hitting 11 home runs. The Mets scored 14 times in the series opener on Friday while putting up numbers in all but one inning.

It was their highest run total of the season, tied their season high in hits and marked the first time in eight years that they homered five times in a game.

Travis D'Arnaud is 11-for-21 in his last seven games and had three hits Friday.

"I've been keeping things simple and having fun with the guys," he said. "It feels like everybody's hitting the ball hard."

Cueto, however, is among the short list of contenders for the National League Cy Young Award in the midst of a season in which he's fourth in the majors in earned run average and second in wins.

He's 2-0 in four starts against the Mets with a 2.42 ERA.

He allowed two runs and struck out nine in seven innings against them on April 5, but got a no-decision when a reliever allowed a walk-off grand slam.

In his last start on Sunday at Pittsburgh, Cueto tossed eight innings of two- run ball in a 3-2 victory that ended a two-start slide.

"He's been outstanding and arguably the best in the National League for me, if not the best without question," manager Bryan Price said. "I've had guys that have lost the anticipation of being able to win. That can't happen. It's unacceptable and he's never given in to that perception, that he doesn't have a great chance to win every time he takes the mound even though we've had a challenging year."

New York goes with Dillon Gee, who can win a third straight start for the first time in more than a year. In his last two starts, both at home, he's allowed five runs in 12 2/3 innings.

In his previous seven, he'd gone 0-5 with a 5.71 ERA.

Gee has never started in Cincinnati and is winless in two career starts against the Reds in New York.

On Friday, Curtis Granderson and d'Arnaud each hit three-run home runs and drove in four runs apiece to help the Mets defeat Cincinnati, 14-5.

Lucas Duda hit a two-run homer, Wilmer Flores and Dilson Herrera added solo shots and David Wright finished 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Mets, who are 8-3 in their last 11 games in Cincinnati.

Bartolo Colon (13-11) earned the win after giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts over seven innings of work.

Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier each homered for Cincinnati, which lost its fourth straight game.

Alfredo Simon (13-10) took the loss after giving up a season-high six runs on eight hits and three walks across four frames.






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