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NextImg:Jonah Tong sunk by three rare homers in gutty encore as Mets fall to Reds

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CINCINNATI — In 113 ⅔ thoroughly dominant minor league innings this season, Jonah Tong allowed a total of two home runs.

It took 13 plate appearances for the Reds to top that.

The promising 22-year-old’s encore was again intriguing but less effective than his victorious debut, getting touched up for three homers in a 6-3 loss at Great American Ball Park on Saturday.

The Mets (76-66) fell seven games behind the Phillies in the division on a night that began with the club four games ahead of the Giants in the chase for the final wild card.

Jonah Tong throws a pitch during the Mets’ loss to the Reds on Sept. 6. USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

In the first leg of a Tong-Brandon Sproat-Nolan McLean medley, the youthful right-hander was not torched — the only three hits he surrendered all cleared the fence — but he did allow more earned runs (four) than he had in any of his 22 starts with Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse this season.

After opening his major league career letting up one earned run (and three unearned) against the Marlins, Tong served up home runs to Sal Stewart (a two-run shot in the second), Matt McClain (in the third) and Austin Hays (in the fourth), all off four-seamers, to dig a ditch that the Mets’ offense never truly threatened to escape.

Cedric Mullins tries to rob a home run during the Mets’ loss to the Reds on Sept. 6. AP

If Tong did not yet demonstrate that he can buzz through an opposing lineup, he did show that he can battle.

The boyish rookie walked four, pitched his way out of minor trouble and struck out six with a fastball that touched 98.4 mph while inducing 13 whiffs on Reds swings.

Francisco Lindor gets tagged out at second base during the Mets’ Sept. 6 loss to the Reds. USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

He surrendered a solo shot to begin the bottom of the fourth and did not let up another hit while taking down six innings, a distance Mets starters have been allergic to all season.