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It's been a September to forget for the Cincinnati Reds, but Homer Bailey is pleased with the personal progress he's made this month.

Bailey looks to reach double digits in wins for the first time when he takes the mound for the Reds in the opener of a three-game road series against the New York Mets on Monday night.

While Cincinnati (77-82) was already far out of contention in the NL Central when the month began, its 10-13 record in September -- including six losses in the last nine games -will keep the team from at least finishing with a winning record.

The Reds avoided being swept by Pittsburgh with a 5-4 win Sunday. Dontrelle Willis pitched six effective innings and hit a two-run, tiebreaking double in his first victory since June 5, 2010.

"Everybody's tired, but everybody continues to push on," Willis said.

The Reds are hoping to get a better series from their pitchers than they did against the Mets in July, when New York scored 30 runs en route to a four-game sweep.

Bailey (9-7, 4.32 ERA) will try to win three straight decisions for the second time this season.

Cincinnati has won Bailey's last three starts. He gave up a two-run homer in seven innings of a 6-4 win over Houston on Tuesday and had a career-high three hits.

"My number one goal for next year is to stay healthy," said Bailey, who set a career high in wins despite missing the first month with shoulder problems. "I had some injuries that were no one's fault but if you look at my wins per start, I'd be at 15 wins over a full season."

In his only start against the Mets, the right-hander gave up a career-high nine runs and 12 hits in four-plus innings of a 10-9 defeat on July 28.

New York (76-83) had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 9-4 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday.

Mike Pelfrey gave up three runs in the first inning and the deficit proved too much for the Mets, who were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

Jose Reyes went 2 for 4 with a walk, raising his season average to .331, two points behind NL leader Ryan Braun. Reyes went 3 for 19 against the Reds in July, 0 for 3 against Bailey.

The Mets will hand the ball to Chris Schwinden (0-2, 5.06), who will make his fourth major league start.

Schwinden pitched a career-high six innings against St. Louis on Wednesday, allowing three runs and six hits in a 6-5 loss but wasn't credited with a decision.

The rookie right-hander also recorded his first major-league hit in the loss.