The New York Mets currently find themselves 1.5 games back in the NL East, with a struggling bullpen that has cost them games late. The latest came on Friday night, when reliever Alex Carillo replaced starter Sean Manaea after four innings and proceeded to surrender a 2-1 lead,

The Mets had a memorable pregame ceremony at Citi Field on Saturday, retiring David Wright’s uniform No. 5 and inducting him into the Mets Hall of Fame because of a fabulous 14-year career in orange and blue.

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.

Francisco Alvarez’s bat is cooking, and the Mets are noticing. The catcher had six homers in his past four games for Triple-A Syracuse entering Saturday night and continues to show improvement behind the plate, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, in what has been an open-ended minor league assignment.

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Cincinnati Reds won their sixth game out of their last seven on Saturday, beating the New York Mets 5-2. The Reds trailed 2-0 for the second game in a row, but rallied in the third to tie the game on a Mets throwing error and a Matt McLain single.

Access the Mets beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets. Try it free All was Wright for the Mets on Saturday,

For the Reds’ front office to increase their chances of being buyers before the July 31 Trade Deadline, the team coming out of the All-Star break strong was viewed as pivotal. So far, the players on the field have held up their end of the bargain.