CINCINNATI (AP) — Mark Vientos homered and Edwin Díaz escaped a major jam in the ninth inning as the New York Mets held off the fading Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on Friday night in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.

Cincinnati (70-71) fell six games behind the Mets for the last National League wild card with 21 remaining. New York leads San Francisco by four games for the final playoff spot.

Vientos drove in two runs and scored two more to help the Mets win for the seventh time in 11 games. Francisco Lindor drew three walks in the leadoff spot and also scored twice.

Díaz entered in the ninth and allowed a single to Ke’Bryan Hayes before walking the next two batters to load the bases with nobody out. But the All-Star closer struck out Noelvi Marte and Elly De La Cruz, then got Gavin Lux to ground out to second for his 26th save.

In the middle of it all, Díaz called to the dugout for a new pair of spikes and changed shoes right there on the field.

Cincinnati has lost 11 of 14.

The Mets scored all their runs in the first four innings off starter Andrew Abbott (8-6). Consecutive doubles by Lindor and Juan Soto made it 5-1 in the fourth.

Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson, just off the injured list, slammed a two-run double in the bottom half and raced home on Hayes’ sacrifice fly to cut it to 5-4.

David Peterson (9-5) allowed four runs and seven hits through 5 1/3 innings. New York’s bullpen shut out the Reds the rest of the way.

Key moment

Vientos led off the third with his 16th homer to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. He also knocked in a run with an infield single in a three-run first.

Key stat

Cincinnati went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Matt McLain struck out with the bases loaded to end the sixth.

Up next

Prized prospect Jonah Tong (1-0, 1.80 ERA) makes his second major league start Saturday night for the Mets against Reds right-hander Brady Singer (12-9, 4.08).

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