It has only been four games, but the energy and passion from the 2021 Cincinnati Reds is palpable. Since a nightmare first inning on Opening Day, the Reds have played inspired baseball. They have competed in every at-bat. Each pitcher has stepped into their role and thrived. The Reds fell behind early tonight, but the offense kept grinding out at-bats until they finally broke through.
13 days ago, the Cincinnati Reds woke up with a 20-26 record and a 17.1% chance of reaching the postseason.
Tonight, the Reds beat the Minnesota Twins to reach the postseason. The Reds have won 10 of their last 12 games with their backs against the wall.
he Reds took an early lead for a fourth consecutive game. Unfortunately, that has resulted in just a 2-2 record. Tejay Antone could not get an out in the fourth inning, and the Reds top relievers in 2020, Lucas Sims and Amir Garrett combined to give up 5 runs and 3 home runs.
It started out so well. The Reds jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Marlins were down 6-3 in the 8th inning. Those two scores hold, the Reds are somehow, someway back within 1.5 games of playoff spot.
But it's 2020.
The Marlins rallied to win 7-6. Sonny Gray cruised through the first three innings, but then the rain fell and it fell hard in the 4th inning. Gray walked two batters as it appeared he could not get a good grip on the baseball. The Cubs ended up scoring 5 runs in the 4th inning with a grand total of one ball leaving the infield.
Mike Moustakas' three-run homer in the first inning off Yu Darvish felt like it was worth 25 runs. The Reds entered play having failed to score a run in 15 consecutive innings, and they had backed themselves into what was a must win game tonight. The three runs Moustakas drove in would prove to be more than enough for Trevor Bauer. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and dominated the Cubs over 7.2 innings.
The Reds offense could not get anything going on Saturday night. It has unfortunately become an all too common theme for the 2020 Reds. Kwang-Hyun Kim recorded his first big league win tonight for the Cardinals, as he allowed just 3 hits and 0 walks over six strong innings.
The Reds entered play on Friday having not scored in 23 consecutive innings. David Bell put out a lineup that featured Matt Davidson, Curt Casali and Christian Colon in the heart of the order. The Reds of course scored 6 runs in the 2nd inning, started off by a Kyle Farmer RBI-double and capped with a Matt Davidson 3-run bomb. Trevor Bauer continued his dominance, and he is a legit early season NL Cy Young candidate. The three game losing streak is over.
The Reds have found out what most in the American League have: Shane Bieber and Mike Clevinger are really good pitchers. The Reds could only muster 3 hits on the night and were shutout for the first time this season.
Sonny Gray and the Cincinnati Reds fell behind 2-0 early, but it didn't spell doom on this night. Nick Castellanos and Joey Votto each homered to help the Reds win their third consecutive game. The Reds have gone from 2-5 to 5-5 in a span of less than 36 hours.