A Wild One In Cincy As The Mets Beat The Reds 15-11 In An 11 Inning Marathon By Rich Coutinho, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com

In a game that really is very typical of this Met team they came from behind twice and outlasted the Reds 15 to 11 in an 11 inning marathon that featured a season high 7 homers to secure a dramatic win for the second straight game on this trip. The last 48 hours illustrate how this team handles adversity and they has been plenty of that in the last 3 days.

When you consider that Jacob deGrom and Francisco Lindor hit the injured list coupled with a devastating loss in Pittsburgh on Saturday Night they have found their offense overcoming a 6-0 deficit on Sunday and then erased a four run deficit in this one showing that these Mets are never out of a game.

Then today they learned that Luis Rojas had to serve a 2 game suspension for what MLB termed “excessive arguing” on Sunday in the Steel City. Bench coach Dave Jauss managed the team and I am sure this is a night he will never forget. The Mets took a first inning 3-0 lead on homers from Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil but the Reds put 7 runs on the board as the Mets played fast and loose with the baseball

But the never say die Mets kept plugging away as Michael Conforto’s home run coupled with a Pete Alonso RBI hit pulled the Mets within 7-6 and Dominic Smith knotted the score at 7 with a solo shot in the fifth inning. A James McCann 2 run homer gave the Mets a 9 to 8 lead but Edwin Diaz suffered his 3rd straight blown save as a Jesse Winker RBI hit tied the game at 9 sending us to extra innings.

And we saw more drama in those extra frames as the Mets took a one run lead on a James McCann RBI hit but the Mets were short on pitchers so Anthony Banda took the mound. He gave up the tying the run but wiggled out of it by getting a key double play sending the game to the 11th inning.

And The Mets got an RBI single from Jeff McNeil and then put the game away on Kevin Pillar drilled a three run homer followed by Michael Conforto’s second homer of the night. Trevor May came on the get the final 2 outs and nailed down his second save in as many nights. Coming off a devastating loss on Saturday night, the Mets have constructed 2 acid dripping dramatic wins that really illustrate what a great collection of players reside in the Met clubhouse.

On this night in Cincy the Mets recovered once again from some early game shoddy defense using the power bats in this lineup and of particular note is the swing of Michael Conforto. He looks like he has corrected the issues he had once returning as his swing is powerful and balanced and not just with the home runs. He is fouling off tough 2 strike pitches allowing himself to live for another day in an at bat.

He has 7 extra base hits in his last 4 games including 4 home runs and that bat really lengthens this Met lineup. We saw that in Cincy as the Mets crushed a season high 7 home runs–just one long ball short of their all time single game home run record in franchise history. And Jeff McNeil’s bat looks red hot as well which could only help this team reach their offensive potential.

2 Straight games where the Mets took some body shots and came off the canvass punching just as they have been doing all season. They bring up players from the minors and every single one of them has contributed heavily. On this night, Anthony Banda played that role looking calm and relaxed in the most trying of circumstances. That mindset fits in perfectly with this team that has spent well over 2 months in first place in the N L East because they are a team-first group. By that I mean guys like Kevin Pillar who was the last men on the Met bench tonight and delivered a key 3 run homer.

And that is the way championship teams execute their season.