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,

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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,