Noah Syndergaard did it all for the New York Mets on Thursday afternoon, as the right-hander tossed a four-hitter and produced the game’s only run with a third-inning homer as the Mets beat the visiting Cincinnati Reds, 1-0. Syndergaard’s second career shutout — and his second homer of the season and the sixth of his career — gave the Mets a split of the four-game series. It was the second straight 1-0 game between the teams. The Reds earned a win Wednesday when Jose Iglesias homered in the top of the ninth.
Syndergaard also had the Mets’ previous shutout last Sept. 30, when he went the distance in a 1-0 win over the Miami Marlins in the regular-season finale. The 1-0 win Thursday was the first in the Mets’ 58-year history in which the starting pitcher accounted for the run with a homer. Syndergaard is the first pitcher to homer for the only run in his shutout since Bob Welch did it for the Dodgers on June 17, 1983, also against the Reds. The opposite field homer by Syndergaard off Tyler Mahle was the fourth of the season for a Mets pitcher, tying the franchise record set previously in 2016. Syndergaard (2-3) walked one, struck out 10 and threw just 104 pitches in the gem. He is just the third pitcher this season to throw a shutout, following in the footsteps of the Colorado Rockies’ German Marquez and the Texas Rangers’ Mike Minor. The shutout snapped a slump for Syndergaard, who entered Thursday with a 6.35 ERA and had given up at least four runs in each of his last four starts. Only one Reds player got as far as second base against Syndergaard, who retired nine in a row before Derek Dietrich singled with two outs in the ninth. Pinch-runner Michael Lorenzen stole second but Syndergaard struck out Yasiel Puig for the final out. Dietrich was the only player on either team with two hits. Mahle (0-4) suffered the hard-luck after giving up four hits and one walk while striking out seven over five innings. Other than Syndergaard, only two Mets got beyond first base against Mahle and three relievers. Robinson Cano singled and went to second base on Michael Conforto’s single in the first and Wilson Ramos doubled and advanced to third in the fifth. –Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
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