Reds waste a golden chance to make up ground in Wild Card race

CINCINNATI -- One-run game, bases loaded, nobody out, bottom of the ninth inning. The Reds have had difficulty getting game-changing hits this season. Only this was as close to a must-win scenario as you can have in the regular season.

With Mets closer Edwin Díaz on the ropes Friday night after issuing consecutive walks to load the bases following Ke’Bryan Hayes’ leadoff single, the Reds had an opportunity to claim one of the most important wins of their season.

Noelvi Marte struck out swinging. Elly De La Cruz struck out looking. Gavin Lux’s bid for a seeing-eye walk-off single was scooped up by Mets second baseman Luisangel Acuña, who tossed to Díaz to finish off Cincinnati’s 5-4 loss at Great American Ball Park.

“I thought we were going to [win],” said Matt McLain, standing in a silent, dejected Reds clubhouse. “Tough loss, obviously. Got to win these games, and we didn’t.”

The Reds (70-71) are now tied with the Diamondbacks in the National League Wild Card standings, pending Arizona’s game against the Red Sox. They are six games behind the Mets and Padres (76-65) and two games behind the surging Giants (72-69). Cincinnati is under .500 for the first time since June 7.

“We were battling from behind, and we gave ourselves a chance, but we just can’t get over the hump,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.

The Reds’ starting rotation, which was among the best in baseball for much of the first half of the season, has struggled lately. Losing Nick Lodolo to illness didn’t help during the last series as Cincinnati lost two of three to the Blue Jays despite scoring nine runs in back-to-back games.

Andrew Abbott, a first-time NL All-Star who has been the staff ace for much of the season, took the loss on Friday. Abbott (8-6) has lost five straight decisions since the break.

Abbott was 8-1 with a 2.07 ERA prior to the All-Star Game, with 21 earned runs allowed in 16 starts. He has allowed 25 earned runs in nine starts since.

The 26-year-old left-hander has finished poorly in each of his three big league seasons, something Francona has discussed with pitching coach Derek Johnson.

“I asked DJ that, and he said he’s held his stuff much better this year than he did last year,” Francona said. “His stuff’s fine. When he was going through a really good streak, you could almost see a little bit of a swagger. Right now, that’s not quite there.”

The Mets collected three runs and three hits in the first inning off Abbott, who issued a leadoff walk to Francisco Lindor.

TJ Friedl minimized the damage when he went above the wall to rob Brandon Nimmo of a three-run homer. Instead it was a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0.

It was Friedl’s second home run thievery this season. On June 3, he prevented a game-tying homer by Jake Bauers with a leaping grab in center to preserve a 4-2 victory over the Brewers.

Mark Vientos led off the third with his 16th homer of the season to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

It was 5-1 Mets in the fourth when Tyler Stephenson marked his return from the IL with a two-run double to cut the Reds’ deficit to 5-3. New York challenged that Spencer Steer slid home ahead of the tag, but the safe call was upheld.

Hayes’ sacrifice fly scored Stephenson from third to make the score 5-4.

Abbott didn’t make it through the fifth, exiting after 98 pitches (64 strikes) with nine hits and five runs allowed. He walked one, struck out five and hit a batter.

Despite the rough start, the Reds battled back and had a chance to win. They didn’t, and now a harsh reality has come into clearer focus.

“We just missed a couple big hits,” McLain said. “We play tomorrow. Can’t feel sorry for yourself. Have to be ready to go.”