The last time the Cincinnati Reds won a playoff series, Barry Larkin and Bret Boone were the middle infielders, and Jeff Brantley was closing games.

NEW YORK (AP) — Designated hitter Starling Marte was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Tuesday by the New York Mets.

The New York Mets bounced back on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field, snapping a two-game losing streak. The narrow win marked a return to form for New York after a rough patch and helped them avoid a sweep in their first home series after the All-Star break.

BOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets look to break their three-game home slide with a win against the Cincinnati Reds. New York has gone 33-16 at home and 55-44 overall. Mets pitchers have a collective 3.61 ERA, which ranks second in the NL.

The Cincinnati Reds are five games over .500 for the first time in almost two years, but manager Terry Francona knows it's too early to put much stock in their record.

CINCINNATI -- In the previous two seasons in which the Reds had a winning record coming out of the All-Star Break, 2021 and 2023, they were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in their first series in the second half of the regular season.

It was the 39th time in the modern era (since 1901) that a hitter got nailed three times in one game. It’s happened to 34 different players — the only previous Reds batter was Derek Dietrich at Milwaukee on June 21,