By Owen Gorsuch, Guest Writer

The Cincinnati Reds continue to hunt for a playoff spot after a crucial series win against the New York Mets.

Entering the series the Reds were five games behind the Mets, who occupied the final National League wild card spot. In order to make the playoffs, it was critical that the Reds won more than one game. The Reds won two out of the three games to keep their postseason hopes alive.

In game one, the Mets had a 3-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI single from Mark Vientos, a sacrifice fly by Brandon Nimmo and an RBI single from Starling Marte. A solo home run by Vientos at the top of the third inning extended the Mets lead to 4-0 before the Reds answered back with a two-out sacrifice fly by Noelvi Marte, making the 4-1. The Mets widened their lead again at the top of the fourth inning courtesy of an RBI double by Juan Soto making it 5-1, but the Reds halved their deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run RBI double from Tyler Stephenson. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a sacrifice fly to bring the Reds within one run entering the 5th inning. While the Reds bullpen kept the Mets from scoring the rest of the game, the Reds offense was unable to produce any more runs, and the game ended with a final score of 5-4.

Game two on Saturday was a better day for the Reds. Sal Stewart opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second with a 412-foot two-run home run. Nimmo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the third cut Cincinnati’s lead in half. Matt McClain restored a two-run lead for the Reds with a 390-foot solo home run in the bottom of the third, making the score 3-1.

Austin Hays extended the Reds lead to 4-1 with a 392-foot solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. The bats of both sides were quiet for the next few innings until Jared Young hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to make the game 4-2. After the seventh inning stretch, the Reds sealed the game with an RBI single by TJ Friedl and, with the bases loaded, Elly De La Cruz walked allowing Jose Trevino to score from third, making the final score 6-3.

The final game of the series took place on Sunday and was a pitching duel early on. The Mets were the first to score, with Brett Baty hitting a solo home run in the top of the third. The Reds answered with a sacrifice fly by Hays in the bottom of the fourth. The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth inning, when De La Cruz hit an RBI double and Hays hit an RBI single making the game 3-1.

A solo home run in the top of the ninth by Soto was not enough for the Mets as the Reds won 3-2, closing the gap between the two teams from five to four in the NL wild card race. The Reds had an under 10% chance of making the postseason prior to last weekend, so they will need to win one more series and get some help from other teams playing the Mets. If the Reds pull it off and make the postseason, they will likely play either the L.A. Dodgers or Chicago Cubs.