CINCINNATI (AP) — The Reds thought they were in good shape until Yoenis Cespedes came to bat with a runner aboard in the seventh inning.

Cespedes hit the most damaging of New York’s four homers, a two-run shot in the seventh, as the Mets rallied for their 13th straight victory over Cincinnati, 5-3 on Tuesday night.

The Mets’ winning streak is their longest against Cincinnati. The club record against any opponent is 15 straight wins against Pittsburgh in 1986-87. New York has won 18 of its last 20 against Cincinnati, including its division-clinching win at Great American Ball Park last Sept. 26.

Overall, New York has won 13 of 17 to tighten the NL wild card race.

Curtis Granderson and Jose Reyes had solo shots off Brandon Finnegan, who walked four and needed 105 pitches to get through five innings.

“I got into a lot of deep counts, but I was able to get out of them,” Finnegan said. “I was lucky to get out with just two runs tonight.”

He managed to avoid a big inning, allowing only the two solo homers.

“Not sharp early, but over the last couple of innings he was much better,” manager Bryan Price said. “He’s really smoothed out his delivery lately, but he was a little jumpy today. It wasn’t his best night, but he battled.”

Cespedes connected off Michael Lorenzen (2-1) for his 28th homer, turning the game.

“Then Cespedes does what he can do,” Price said.

Alejandro De Aza had a pinch-hit homer in the ninth.

Rafael Montero made his second start of the season and gave up Adam Duvall’s two-run homer in 4 1/3 innings. Josh Smoker (2-0) allowed one hit in one inning. Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth for his 46th save in 49 chances. The closer has allowed one earned run in 15 2/3 innings since Aug. 1.

The Reds have dropped 11 of 15 overall, including the first two games of the series that concludes Wednesday.

Granderson’s fourth homer in his last seven games gave him 24 for the season.

The Mets have hit six homers in the first two games of the series, five of them solo shots.

BRUCE GETS A HIT

Mets RF Jay Bruce singled in four at-bats. In his first series against his former team, he’s gone 1 for 8 with three strikeouts.

NICE PLAY

Reds 1B Joey Votto made a diving catch of Wilmer Flores’ liner to end the fifth inning, stranding two runners.

NEW ADDITIONS

The Mets called up OF Brandon Nimmo, INF T.J. Rivera, INF Eric Campbell, LHP Josh Edgin, RHP Erik Goeddel and INF Gavin Cecchini from Triple-A Las Vegas. The Reds called up INF/OF Tony Renda, OF Steve Selsky and RHP Josh Smith from Triple-A Louisville.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: LHP Steven Matz is playing catch but hasn’t thrown off a mound. Matz has been sidelined since the middle of August by tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey is limited to playing catch as he tries to get rid of soreness in his right biceps. There’s no timetable for when he might throw off a mound again. He felt soreness after his last start on Aug. 28.

UP NEXT

Mets: Noah Syndergaard (12-8) is 3-1 with a 1.63 ERA in his last four starts. He’s 2-0 career against the Reds with a 2.42 ERA in three starts. The Mets have won all three games.

Reds: Anthony DeSclafani (8-2) is 0-2 with a 12.27 ERA in three career starts against the Mets, with all three games ending in losses.

———

Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay

TUESDAY’S GAME

Mets 5, Reds 3

New York Mets AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Reyes 3b 4 1 2 1 1 1 .284

A.Cabrera ss 5 1 1 0 0 1 .275

Cespedes lf 4 1 1 2 1 1 .293

Flores 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .269

Bruce rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .204

d’Arnaud c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .251

Granderson cf 2 1 1 1 1 0 .223

Familia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Reynolds 2b 1 0 0 0 1 1 .235

b-Johnson ph-2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .273

Montero p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Edgin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Ynoa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

c-Conforto ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .217

Smoker p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Salas p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Reed p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

e-De Aza ph-cf 1 1 1 1 0 0 .199

Totals 34 5 8 5 4 10

 

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Peraza cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .331

Cozart ss 2 1 0 0 2 1 .255

Votto 1b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .312

Duvall lf 3 1 1 2 1 1 .245

Phillips 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .282

Schebler rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .239

De Jesus 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .235

Barnhart c 3 0 0 0 1 1 .257

Finnegan p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .118

a-Iribarren ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .500

Lorenzen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250

d-R.Cabrera ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .246

Iglesias p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091

Wood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

f-Suarez ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .249

Totals 31 3 5 3 4 11

 

New York 011 000 201 = 5 8 1

Cincinnati 002 010 000 = 3 5 1

 

a-tripled for Finnegan in the 5th. b-out on fielder’s choice for Reynolds in the 6th. c-struck out for Ynoa in the 6th. d-struck out for Lorenzen in the 7th. e-homered for Reed in the 9th. f-struck out for Wood in the 9th.

E—Reyes (5), Duvall (5). LOB—New York 7, Cincinnati 6. 3B—Iribarren (2). HR—Granderson (24), off Finnegan; Reyes (5), off Finnegan; Cespedes (28), off Lorenzen; De Aza (6), off Wood; Duvall (30), off Montero. RBIs—Reyes (14), Cespedes 2 (70), Granderson (44), De Aza (23), Votto (80), Duvall 2 (87). SB—Reyes (7), Cozart (4). SF—Votto.

Runners left in scoring position—New York 2 (Flores, Conforto); Cincinnati 1 (Phillips). RISP—New York 0 for 5; Cincinnati 1 for 4.

GIDP—Bruce.

DP—Cincinnati 1 (Votto, Cozart).

 

New York Mets IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Montero 4 1-3 3 3 3 4 4 79 4.63

Edgin 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 9.00

Ynoa 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 4 10.80

Smoker W, 2-0 1 1 0 0 0 2 17 6.23

Salas H, 14 1 0 0 0 0 2 11 0.00

Reed H, 33 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 1.92

Familia S, 46-49 1 0 0 0 0 2 18 2.48

 

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Finnegan 5 3 2 2 4 6 105 4.17

Lorenzen L, 2-1 2 4 2 2 0 2 38 2.84

Iglesias 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 2.17

Wood 1 1 1 1 0 1 11 3.74

 

Inherited runners-scored—Edgin 2-1, Ynoa 1-0. IBB—off Finnegan (Cespedes). HBP—Lorenzen (Granderson).

Umpires—Home, Nic Lentz; First, Mark Ripperger; Second, Joe West; Third, Andy Fletcher.

T—3:08. A—13,359 (42,319).