Stewart's 4-RBI Night Powers Reds Past Mets, 5-3
Sal Stewart did the heavy lifting for Cincinnati on June 16, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs in a 5-3 Reds win over the Mets. The story of the night was really a tale of two starters — one who held it together, and one who didn't.
Brady Singer earned the win by doing exactly enough. He went 5 innings, allowed just 1 earned run on 3 hits, struck out 5, and walked 3. It wasn't a dominant outing by any measure, but it was functional — and in a game decided by two runs, functional wins. Kodai Senga, on the other side, couldn't match it. He lasted only 4 innings, surrendering 4 earned runs on 2 hits and 4 walks while also punching out 5. The walk total looks like the real culprit — four free passes in four innings is a recipe for exactly the kind of damage Cincinnati inflicted.
Stewart was the engine of the Reds offense. His 2 hits, home run, and 4 RBIs across just 4 plate appearances made him the most efficient bat in the lineup by a wide margin — 5 total bases and the lion's share of Cincinnati's run production. Spencer Steer added a home run of his own, going 1-for-4 with 1 RBI and 4 total bases, and Edwin Arroyo contributed a hit and a run scored in 3 plate appearances. For the Mets, Mark Vientos provided the lone power answer — a home run, 2 RBIs, and 4 total bases in just 2 plate appearances. Bo Bichette went 2-for-5 with an RBI and appears to have been one of the few Mets hitters who made consistent contact, but it wasn't enough to overcome the early hole Senga dug. Francisco Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
Our model favored Cincinnati Reds (52%), flagging them as an upset pick — and the Reds delivered. Whether this signals anything broader about where these two teams are headed is hard to say from one box score, but the performance gap between the two starting pitchers looks like the defining factor here. Singer gave Cincinnati a chance; Senga gave the Reds a head start. That's a tough combination to overcome, and the Mets' offense — despite Vientos's pop — couldn't fully close the gap.