CINCINNATI (AP) — The Reds will have to wait another season for a chance to beat the New York Mets.

Jose Reyes homered on the first pitch of the game and the Reds wound up losing to the Mets for the 14th straight time, 6-3 Wednesday.

The skid extends more than two years, back to Cincinnati’s last win over the Mets on Sept. 6, 2014.

“We had some mistakes and missed opportunities,” manager Bryan Price said. “It was bad baseball.”

“When you’re this far under .500 (57-81), to have games like this regularly would make it a long season. This was not our typical game. I hope we don’t have one of these for a while. I don’t think we will,” he said.

Noah Syndergaard lasted five shaky shutout innings and the Mets won their fifth in a row.

Reyes and Curtis Granderson each homered for the second straight day. Wilmer Flores added a pinch-hit, two-run drive.

The Mets (74-66) finished off a three-game sweep and have won eight of 10. They pulled within a percentage point of St. Louis (73-65) for the second NL wild card, both a half-game behind San Francisco (74-65).

Syndergaard (13-8) gave up six hits and four walks. But the Reds went 0 for 3 in trying to steal against him — opposing runners had been previously been 45 for 51 this season.

Scott Schebler was thrown out standing up at second base on one try. Eugenio Suarez was picked off first, setting up Jose Peraza to be thrown out trying to steal home, and pitcher Anthony DeSclafani was slow to cover the plate on a wild pitch, allowing Reyes to score in the third inning.

“Schebler thought he heard the ball fouled off,” Price said.

Jeurys Familia closed for his 47th save, extending his franchise record.

DeSclafani (8-3) took the loss as the Reds fell for the fourth straight time.

Peraza doubled twice, singled twice and drove in two runs. Cincinnati trailed 5-0 in the eighth before scoring three times, two on Peraza’s double off Addison Reed that barely missed being a tying grand slam.

Cincinnati went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position against Syndergaard. He struck out seven and improved to 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA over his last five starts.

Reyes sent a shot into the right-field seats for his sixth homer.

“I was trying to get ahead and Reyes was trying to hit one out and he did,” DeSclafani said. “He’s been swinging the bat well lately. They all have this whole series. They have a good lineup and they’re playing pretty good.”

COLD SPELL

The Reds are 7 for 31 with runners in scoring position during their four-game losing streak.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: RF Jay Bruce got Wednesday off, as much a break from the strain of returning to his former home for the first time as anything else, manager Terry Collins said. “I told him yesterday, ‘With all you’ve been through, why don’t you catch your breath and get ready for Friday?”’ Collins said.

Reds: CF Billy Hamilton, who strained his left oblique on Sunday, won’t travel with the team to Pittsburgh for the four-game series.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Dan Straily (11-7) starts Thursday at Pittsburgh. He was able to overcome issuing a career-high seven walks in his last start, a 9-1 win over St. Louis.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

Mets 6, Reds 3

New York Mets AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Reyes 3b 5 2 2 1 0 1 .287

A.Cabrera ss 4 1 1 0 1 1 .275

Cespedes lf 5 0 1 1 0 0 .292

Granderson rf 5 2 2 1 0 1 .225

Johnson 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .268

c-Flores ph-2b-1b 2 1 1 2 0 0 .270

De Aza cf 4 0 2 0 1 1 .205

Loney 1b 3 0 2 0 0 0 .264

f-T.Rivera ph-2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .282

R.Rivera c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .221

Syndergaard p 2 0 1 0 0 1 .154

a-Conforto ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .216

Robles p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Blevins p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

d-Nimmo ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .233

Ynoa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Reed p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Familia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Totals 40 6 13 5 2 10

 

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Peraza ss 5 0 4 2 0 0 .347

Suarez 3b 5 0 2 0 0 1 .251

Votto 1b 4 0 1 0 1 2 .312

Duvall lf 4 1 0 0 1 2 .242

Phillips 2b 5 0 2 0 0 1 .284

Schebler rf 3 1 2 0 2 0 .246

Holt cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .219

Barnhart c 4 1 1 1 0 2 .257

DeSclafani p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .114

Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167

b-Iribarren ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .429

Peralta p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Diaz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

e-R.Cabrera ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .245

Cingrani p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Totals 37 3 13 3 5 12

 

New York 101 001 021 = 6 13 0

Cincinnati 000 000 030 = 3 13 1

 

a-flied out for Syndergaard in the 6th. b-struck out for Smith in the 7th. c-homered for Johnson in the 8th. d-struck out for Blevins in the 8th. e-out on fielder’s choice for Diaz in the 8th. f-flied out for Loney in the 9th.

E—Peraza (2). LOB—New York 10, Cincinnati 12. 2B—A.Cabrera (25), Cespedes (21), Peraza 2 (6). HR—Reyes (6), off DeSclafani; Granderson (25), off DeSclafani; Flores (16), off Peralta. RBIs—Reyes (15), Cespedes (71), Granderson (45), Flores 2 (49), Peraza 2 (16), Barnhart (39). SB—Reyes (8). CS—Peraza (5), Phillips (7), Schebler (3).

Runners left in scoring position—New York 5 (Reyes, Cespedes, Granderson, Conforto, T.Rivera); Cincinnati 6 (Suarez 2, Duvall 2, Schebler, DeSclafani). RISP—New York 1 for 10; Cincinnati 3 for 13.

Runners moved up—R.Rivera, Phillips.

DP—Cincinnati 1 (Votto, Suarez).

 

New York Mets IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Syndergard W, 13-8 5 6 0 0 4 7 95 2.48

Robles H, 11 1 2-3 2 0 0 0 2 26 3.80

Blevins H, 15 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 5 2.65

Ynoa 0 2 3 3 1 0 14 18.90

Reed H, 34 1 2 0 0 0 2 16 1.89

Familia S, 47-50 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 2.44

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

DeSclafani L, 8-3 6 7 3 2 1 7 95 2.94

Smith 1 1 0 0 0 0 11 5.08

Peralta 0 3 2 2 0 0 10 10.80

Diaz 1 0 0 0 0 2 11 4.02

Cingrani 1 2 1 1 1 1 26 3.52

Peralta pitched to 4 batters in the 8th.

Ynoa pitched to 3 batters in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored—Blevins 1-0, Reed 3-2, Diaz 2-0. HBP—Peralta (Loney). WP—DeSclafani.

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

T—3:29. A—13,936 (42,319).