In the final meeting of their three-game set, the Mets were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

Here are some takeaways...

- The Reds jumped on Kodai Senga early and often as they got out to an early lead for the third straight game. Two-out, run-scoring hits from Nick Senzel and Kevin Newman helped Cincy take a 4-0 lead after just the first frame.

New York has now been outscored 34-9 in the first inning this season.

Thankfully for the Mets though, Senga was able to settle in nicely after that. He struck out the side in the second then worked quickly and effectively through the third and fourth.

The right-hander retired the first two batters in the fifth, but Spencer Steer crushed a hanging curveball to deep left-center to make it 5-0 Reds. Senga has now allowed six home runs through seven starts this season.

He struck out the next batter he faced to bring an end to his day. Aside from the rough first inning, Senga didn't pitch poorly, but he finished with a final line of five runs on eight hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts over five innings.

- Tommy Hunter and Dominic Leone combined to throw three scoreless innings behind Senga.

- After falling into a big hole early, the Mets’ offense wasn’t able to get much going against the Reds, who went with a bullpen game in this one.

- Francisco Alvarez, who has been settling in at the plate, was one of the lone bright spots. He lined an opposite field single in his first at-bat in the top of the third.

Alvarez again reached base in the fifth, this time on a fielder's choice, followed by a Brandon Nimmo walk, but Francisco Lindor struck out and Jeff McNeil grounded out to strand the pair.

Two innings later, the youngster went the other way again for a one-out double. After Nimmo struck out, Lindor came through with a single to right, but Alvarez was gunned down at the plate by Henry Ramos to keep the Mets off the board. 

Alvarez finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of opposite-field hits. The 21-year-old now has a hit in four of his last five games and is batting .375 with five extra base-hits over his last ten.

- Starling Marte’s struggles at the plate continued, as he finished the day 1-for-4 with a strikeout. He’s now 7-for-his-last-37 (.189) with 0 XBH's.

- New York mustered just six hits on the afternoon, left nine men on base, and went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. This was the seventh time this season the Mets have been shut out. They were shut out eight times all of last season.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets continue their roadtrip with a four-game weekend wraparound series with the Washington Nationals starting on Friday night at 7:05 p.m.

New York hasn't officially announced a starter, but it is expected Joey Lucchesi or Tylor Megill will take the ball. They'll be opposed by left-hander MacKenzie Gore, who struck out ten over six innings of one-run ball against the Mets on April 26 at Citi Field.