Reds fans already knew that the 2021 season was over, but the nail in the coffin was hammered in during the 8th inning while the Reds were trailing 5-1 to the White Sox. The Cardinals won their historic 17th consecutive game to officially clinch the second wildcard spot, and eliminate the Reds. The Reds would go on to lose 7-1 to end their four game winning streak.
The Reds fell behind 4-0 on Friday evening in a stadium that understandably felt lifeless. The Reds 2021 season is virtually over, but as this team has shown time and time again they never quit. They once again came roaring back. The Reds are now two wins away from finishing at least .500. It would be just the 4th time in the last 20 full seasons that the Reds finish at .500 or better.
The Cincinnati Reds (78-73) season was already on life support and they were down 5-0 last night. The Reds fought back with nine unanswered runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates (56-94) for 9-5 win to stay within 3.0 games of the Cardinals and give themselves a punchers chance over the last 11 games. The Reds and Pirates are scheduled to meet again tonight at 6:40 PM, although there is a big threat of rain this evening. The Reds are virtually in must-win mode the rest of the season and all eyes will be in Milwaukee to see if the Brewers can finally slow the Cardinals down.
After Friday night's 4-2 win, the Cincinnati Reds will try to win its first series since August 22 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium tonight.
Tonight was not the night for run prevention for the Cincinnati Reds professional baseball club. None of the Reds hurlers could stop runners from crossing the plate, except for Mr. Tony Santillan and position player, Max Schrock. The Reds defense was just about as bad. It just was not the Reds night this evening. The Reds have lost 5 of 6. The Reds will have to wait for the result in San Diego late this evening to see if they are still 0.5 games up or 0.5 games back for the final NL playoff spot with 26 games to play.