CINCINNATI -- Back in Puerto Rico during the offseason, Edwin Díaz and his brother, Alexis, made a bet for 2024: Whichever of them recorded fewer saves in head-to-head action would have to buy the entire family dinner after the season. There would be six opportunities in total: three in April at Great American Ball Park, then three more in September at Citi Field.

After closing the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Reds on Friday night, Edwin is officially winning. And the three outs he recorded were as impactful as they were harrowing; the save was Díaz’s first since undergoing surgery in March 2023 to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.

“That was special,” Díaz said, explaining why he kept the baseball he used to record the final out. “It means a lot.”

Handed a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Díaz ratcheted up the degree of difficulty when he was unable to field a swinging bunt from the leadoff hitter, Jonathan India. That brought the crowd back into things, and the noise only ratcheted to another level when Díaz walked the next batter.

Then came the key moment: Díaz induced a potential double-play ball from Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Fielding it as he moved toward second base, Francisco Lindor decided to turn two himself rather than flip to Jeff McNeil, who was waiting at the bag. As McNeil scrambled to move out of the way, umpire Stu Scheurwater ruled Steer safe at second. The ruling held up after a video review.

“It’s loud out there,” McNeil said. “I saw [Lindor] take that first step and I go, ‘Oh no. Get out of the way.’ I thought he made a pretty good play. A really close call at second base. He ended up being safe, but [Lindor] is athletic enough to get that out at first, which is huge.”

Around that time, Alexis Díaz began warming in the home bullpen, just in case his brother wasn’t able to finish the job. But Edwin had no such thoughts. Although he made things a little more difficult than they needed to be, allowing an unearned run to score on a sacrifice fly and uncorking a wild pitch to bring the tying run within 90 feet of home, Díaz struck out Jake Fraley on a 91 mph slider to end things.

When he did, Díaz pumped his fist and slammed it into his chest, proud of his first save since Oct. 4, 2022.

“It was good not only to get the save, but to be able to work with some trouble,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It was good for him to slow it down, continue to make pitches and eventually get the job done.”

Nothing came particularly easily on Friday for the Mets, who watched Jose Quintana pitch around traffic all evening and the offense remain stagnant for large swaths of the game. But some positive signs did continue to emerge, including McNeil’s first homer and a strong game from Brett Baty, who collected two hits and made a pair of impactful defensive plays.

Díaz’s contribution might have been most notable of all. After undergoing emergency surgery following his World Baseball Classic injury last March, Díaz spent the rest of the year rehabbing. He tried to come back at the end of last season, but the Mets shut him down once it became clear they were out of the postseason race.

Díaz finally returned to a mound this spring but understandably found exhibition games lacking in adrenaline. Even now, he continues to check off boxes; Friday’s appearance, for example, marked his first time pitching in back-to-back regular-season games since September 2022.

“My first couple outings were nobody on base,” said Díaz, whose first three appearances all came in non-save situations. “Today was a tough situation … and I think I did a great job. I made my pitches when I had to make them.”

Plus, Díaz had some added motivation. His family is a big one. Lots of mouths to feed. Nobody wants to foot the bill at a nice restaurant if they don’t have to.

“As of right now, I’m first,” Díaz said of his bet with Alexis. Grinning, he added, “Let’s see how we finish.”