CINCINNATI — Brandon Sproat was excellent, displaying the kind of upside that the Mets can dream on for the rest of this and future seasons.
Maybe one day, in the coming weeks or years, he can be the type of front-line arm that the Reds used Sunday to throttle Mets bats.
Sproat was promising, though Hunter Greene was all but perfect in besting the debuting rookie. Greene bulldozed a Mets lineup that was one-hit through eight innings in a 3-2 Reds victory that narrowed the playoff picture.
The Mets (76-67) lost the series and a bit of ground in the wild-card chase, four games ahead of Cincinnati, San Francisco and Arizona — pending the Diamondbacks result Sunday against the Red Sox.
Carlos Mendoza’s group enjoys enough of a cushion that it can afford a setback like this one — in which it witnessed another hyped, young arm take a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
Following an interesting if not dominant Jonah Tong on Saturday and preceding Nolan McLean Day on Monday, Sproat fought off jitters that resulted in a four-pitch walk to start his career and thrived with stuff he felt was not his best.
“Obviously, the walks, just fell behind hitters, and then I didn’t have my heater,” said Sproat, self-critical after allowing three runs on three hits with four walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. “But that’s part of pitching. Some days, you’re not going to have a certain pitch, and you got to go out there and figure out a way.”
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The way for Sproat included a six-pitch mix and an array of breaking stuff that continually elicited weak contact. A nifty, backdoor curveball caught Elly De La Cruz looking for his first strikeout. He leaned on a sweeper that induced three whiffs and could land in the strike zone, like one that might have plunked Ke’Bryan Hayes before sweeping across the inside of the plate for Strike 3.
Those offerings compensated for a pair of fastballs that Sproat was not thrilled with, a two-seamer that touched 98 mph and four-seamer that hit 97 mph.
“Found a way to give us a solid six innings, give us a chance to win the game, but overall a great performance,” Mendoza said of Sproat, who became a rare pitcher to allow a run before allowing a hit.
Sproat shut down the Reds through three innings before walking Noelvi Marte to begin the bottom of the fourth. A steal, groundout and sacrifice fly later, the Reds had tied a game in which a third-inning Brett Baty home run comprised the entire Mets offense until a ninth-inning rally that came up short.
Sproat was not truly touched until the sixth, when Marte looped a single before De La Cruz roped an RBI double and Austin Hays added an RBI single.
Teetering, Sproat bore down and used a curveball to strike out Gavin Lux and four-seamer to punch out Sal Stewart.
Amid his most challenging inning, the 24-year-old could hear encouragement from his mother.
“I know that voice from anywhere,” the Florida native said with a smile. “Super blessed for [my parents] to be able to make it. They’ve been my backbone since day one. Always supported me.”
They supported him through a University of Florida tenure that led to him being drafted twice by the Mets, who failed to sign him after his junior year before doing so after his senior year. And through a rough stretch to begin this season, in which he had a 5.95 ERA after 15 starts with Triple-A Syracuse before turning a corner and finally receiving a call that McLean and Tong already had received.
With three weeks left in the regular season, the Mets have three rookies with virtually no experience competing for potential playoff starts.
“It’s encouraging. But we need … everyone here,” said Mendoza, adding the club will be reliant upon David Peterson, Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes, too. “But it’s good to see those kids coming up here and giving us a chance to win them games. We’re going to need them as well.”
Because of the brilliance from Greene (12 strikeouts in seven, one-run innings) and because of a mostly silent Mets offense, Sproat did not leave with a win.
He did leave with a ball that he planned to give to his parents to take home, “that way I don’t lose it,” he said.
“On to the next one,” Sproat added.