The Cincinnati Reds (70-59) enter play on Friday with a 2.0 game lead for the second NL wild card spot with 33 games left to play. The Reds will travel down to south Florida to play three games against the Miami Marlins (53-75) starting tonight at 7:10 PM. The Reds swept the Marlins in a four game series in Cincinnati last weekend. The Marlins did win their last two games against the Nationals, but prior to that had lost 8 straight games. The Marlins are 9-15 in August.
The Cincinnati Reds (69-58) will look to rebound from a painful blown lead last night to the Milwaukee Brewers (77-49) tonight at 8:10 PM. The Reds enter play on Wednesday 8.5 games back in the NL Central. The Reds continue to hold the NL second wild card spot with a 1.0 game lead thanks the Padres losing again last night. The Padres have lost 10 of 12.
The Reds offense had a big night against an NL Cy Young contender for the second time in 12 days. The Reds scored 4 runs off Corbin Burnes. He entered the game having only allowed 1 run in his last 3 starts (21.0 IP). Unfortunately for the Reds, Michael Lorenzen did not have it for the first time in 2021. The Brewers scored 4 runs in the 7th inning to erase the Reds 4-1 lead.
The Reds offense struggled once again against a left-handed starting pitcher. The Reds only had four total hits on the night. The Reds did put the go-ahead run on base in the 9th, but Mike Moustakas grounded into a double play to end the game.
Two of the hottest teams in baseball will square off for the first of three games tonight at Truist Park in Atlanta at 7:20 PM. The Cincinnati Reds (61-52) are 10-3 in their last 13 games, and they have played .619 baseball since May 30th with a 39-24 record. The Atlanta Braves (57-55) have won 5 of 6 to revive a season that was put on life support. They are just 2.0 games back now in the NL East, a division the Reds would be leading by a game and half if they were in it.