Injuries strike again as Reds fall to Mets

The 2022 season has been incredibly frustrating from just about every angle. After the off season trades set us on a course for an inevitable rebuild, we could at least look forward to the progress of Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson while taking in the debuts of top pitching prospects Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene. All 4 of those guys have now been on the IL at some point this season, and India and Stephenson have seen themselves land there multiple times. And now, just as India has been finding his groove at the plate, he had himself another setback as he pulled up gimpy legging out an infield hit in the top of the 4th inning. It was later revealed that he injured the same hamstring that has hampered him all season. Damn. That wasn’t the only loss of the inning as Mike Moustakas also pulled up with a calf injury, which also forced him out of the game.

The game itself wasn’t much better, as the Reds didn’t have much of an answer for Mets’ starter Chris Bassitt. Despite collecting 8 hits off Bassitt, they couldn’t take advantage and only scraped 1 run across the plate. Unfortunately, the Mets were already up 3-0 at that point and that’s all they needed to come away with the win.

Reds’ starter Justin Dunn ran into some early trouble, as he led off the bottom of the 1st by hitting Brandon Nimmo. That brought up Starling Marte, who launched one over the wall in left-center to put the Mets up 2-0. In the bottom of the 3rd, Francisco Lindor would walk and then steal 2nd. He’d later score on an RBI single by Dan Vogelbach to increase their lead to 3-0. The Reds cut into the lead on the top of the 4th. Jonathan India reached on an error and was retired on a fielder’s choice by Nick Senzel. Senzel would move to 3rd on a single by Mike Moustakas. Joey Votto would come up and ground out to 2nd, scoring Senzel for the Reds only run of the night. To add a little insult to injury, a 2-run triple by old friend Tyler Naquin would put the final nail in the coffin to give the Mets the 5-1 win.

We’ll likely have to wait until tomorrow to figure out the true cost of tonight’s game. Given India’s history with hamstring strains already this season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him go on the IL. The Reds and Mets will be back at it again tomorrow night. Mike Minor (1-8, 6.19 ERA) will face off against Carlos Carrasco (12-4, 3.82 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 PM EDT.