Final Score: Reds 4, Mets 0 — Mets bats reek against Leake

Tonight's game had the potential to be an ugly blowout but turned out to be just a boring yawner. Jon Niese needed 48 pitches to make it through the first inning, during which he walked three, gave up two hits, and watched David Wright make a crucial error with the bases loaded which led to three unearned runs scoring. And that all came after Niese retired the first two batters of the game with relative ease. Niese settled down thereafter, though, and didn't allow a run in his final five innings of work. He struck out seven on the night and was throwing hard; both are welcome developments.

Those three first-inning runs, plus a garbage-time solo home run by Devin Mesoraco, were plenty for Reds starter Mike Leake and two relievers. Leake threw seven shutout innings against the Mets lineup, allowing just five baserunners. Our heroes' best chance to score came in the fourth inning, when John Buck hit a two-out double to deep right field with Lucas Duda on first base. Considering the Mets' offensive woes, and on-deck batter Ike Davis, sending Duda home seemed like a worthwhile gamble. However, third-base coach Tim Teufel disagreed and Duda got the stop sign. Ike proceeded to ground out to end the threat and is now hitting .149/.229/.248. The Mets' lineup went down quietly into the night the rest of the game.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.