NEW YORK _ Again Jacob deGrom rebounded from a slow start, but his bullpen did not do him any favors Sunday.
Relievers combined to allow five runs, resulting in a 10-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Jose Reyes and Dominick Smith each finished with two RBIs, but it was not enough to give the Mets a series sweep.
Paul Sewald allowed a three-run homer, and Jeurys Familia topped it off with two runs conceded in the eighth inning to earn the loss. Hansel Robles later gave up a three-run shot to Tucker Barnhart in the ninth inning.
It was a rare set of miscues from the Mets bullpen of late. The unit entered Sunday with a solid 3.08 ERA since Aug. 8.
The Cincinnati bats were hot early. Jose Peraza singled by Jose Reyes at second base to lead off the game, allowing him to then steal second. He was driven in on the next at-bat, as Zack Cozart lined the ball over Amed Rosario to put the Reds up 1-0 with no outs.
After loading up the bases with walks to Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez, Adam Duvall brought in another run with a fly out to deep center field. DeGrom ended the inning by striking out Scott Schebler looking, but not before laboring for 33 pitches for a two-score deficit.
The ace finished up strong, ending with just three hits allowed in six innings to go with 10 strikeouts. It was the 10th time this season deGrom racked up at least 10 punch-outs, but he was denied a career-high 15th win.
New York was able to respond during the bottom of the frame. After a Jose Reyes single and a Nori Aoki double just inside first base, Travis d'Arnaud grounded out to third to bring in a run. Smith went down swinging to end the first inning.
Smith seized his next chance for redemption though. With two outs and runners on first and second, the rookie singled as the grounder bounced off a diving Scooter Gennett in the shallow outfield. Brandon Nimmo would come around to score, tying the game at 2 after three innings.
As for the rest of the Mets, generating clutch hits was a difficult task against Reds starter Sal Romano. The team put together eight hits in the first five innings, but left five men on base.
With Romano out of the game, the Mets grabbed control of the afternoon in the sixth inning. Smith sent the ball over the right-field fence, and Reyes notched two RBIs with a double.
The homer continued a strong September for Smith, who is now 11-for-38 in the month with two jacks and eight RBIs. Manager Terry Collins praised Smith prior to the game for his recent play.
"I think last night, the catch he made, resonates with (making winning plays)," Collins said. "I think when you see that kind of energy and that kind of effort, you say 'Look, he's playing the game the way it is supposed to be played.'
"When you look at our particular situation, we've been eliminated and guys could certainly start backing down and they're not backing down. That's what we're asking them to do, to continue to play the game the right way, and Dom is doing that."
Asdrubal Cabrera hit for deGrom during the frame, but left the game after taking a ball to the left ankle and falling to the ground in pain. He eventually walked off slowly under his own power. The team announced Cabrera suffered an ankle contusion and that X-rays came back negative.
For all of the work deGrom put in to put the Mets in a winning position, the bullpen let it go to waste. After Reyes' errant throw to first base sabotaged a double play to keep the seventh inning alive, Sewald gave up a three-run shot to Cozart to tie the game.
The inning ended with a Gennett ejection following an argument over a looking strikeout.
Jeurys Familia would later allow the go-ahead runs in the eighth on a Barnhart double. Rosario seemingly saved a run on the play by throwing out Schebler at home from shallow left field, but the play was overturned on a challenge.
Collins was also ejected for arguing the changed ruling.
The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak for the Mets against the Reds. New York is now 18-3 against Cincinnati dating back to 2015.
