(Sports Network) – Right-hander Bronson Arroyo gets a final 2011 crack at a seventh double-digit win season tonight when the Cincinnati Reds visit the New York Mets in the middle test of a three-game series at Citi Field.
Arroyo, a 34-year-old native of Key West, Fla., has won 10 or more games in four of five seasons with the Reds since he was acquired from Boston in a trade for Wily Mo Pena.
He was a double-digit winner twice for the Red Sox, including a 10-9 record in 32 appearances for the 2004 World Series champions.
His 17 wins last season were a career high.
Arroyo got within a game of win No. 10 with a gem in his last start, when he tossed a six-hit shutout against the Houston Astros while walking none and striking out two in a 2-0 decision on Sept. 21.
He is 7-3 in 12 career start against the Mets with a 3.49 earned run average across 87 2/3 innings.
On Monday, Chris Heisey’s three-run home run powered the Reds to a 6-5 victory.
Logan Ondrusek (5-5) stranded two runners in the sixth inning to earn the win in relief of starter Homer Bailey, who tossed five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out seven.
Francisco Cordero put two runners on with no outs in the ninth, but worked out of the jam to earn his 36th save of the year.
Tim Byrdak (2-1) allowed two hits before Josh Stinson gave up Heisey’s homer.
Jose Reyes went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored as the Mets dropped their second straight contest.
New York starts lefty Chris Capuano, who finishes off an unlikely comeback season with a chance to reach .500.
The 33-year-old was an 18-game winner with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005 and won 11 games the next season, but won just five times in 2007 and was out of the majors until returning with the Brewers to win four games in 24 appearances in 2010.
He signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Mets in January.
Capuano is 1-0 with a no-decision in his last three September starts and is 3-3 in 14 career meetings with the Reds.
The Mets swept a four-game set in Cincinnati from July 25-28.