CINCINNATI — Mark Vientos homered and Edwin Díaz escaped a major jam in the ninth inning as the New York Mets held off the fading Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on Friday night in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.

Cincinnati (70-71) fell six games behind the Mets for the last National League wild card with 21 remaining. New York leads San Francisco by four games for the final playoff spot.

Vientos drove in two runs and scored two more to help the Mets win for the seventh time in 11 games. Francisco Lindor drew three walks in the leadoff spot and also scored twice.

Díaz entered in the ninth and allowed a single to Ke’Bryan Hayes before walking the next two batters to load the bases with nobody out. But the All-Star closer struck out Noelvi Marte and Elly De La Cruz, then got Gavin Lux to g

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