CINCINNATI \u2014 Before the Cincinnati Reds\u2019 13-9 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, the New York Mets\u2019 game against the Detroit Tigers was on several TVs in the home clubhouse at Great American Ball Park.<\/p>\n
There were glances at the score, 6-2 Tigers, and even a word or two when the Mets\u2019 Juan Soto popped up with two outs in the ninth, flipped his bat in the air with one hand and then swatted it away with his other, but there was not even a single clap or cheer.<\/p>\n
The three games against the Mets at GABP starting Friday are vital, but as the Tigers were celebrating four hours up I-75 in Detroit, the Reds still had a game to play before the most important series of the season and another 19 left after those three.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish we\u2019d won tonight,\u201d Reds manager Terry Francona said after the second slugfest loss in a row to the American League East-leading Blue Jays. \u201cWe\u2019re probably extremely fortunate that we get to play a team that\u2019s in front of us (in the standings). Saying that, we\u2019ve got to beat them. But it\u2019s our chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Francona didn\u2019t say it, the upcoming series may be the Reds\u2019 last chance.<\/p>\n
When former Reds pitcher Jeff Hoffman got Austin Hays to fly out for the game\u2019s last out, the Reds stood five games back of the Mets for the final wild-card spot and a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants. The Giants went on to beat the Colorado Rockies and make it a full game ahead of Cincinnati.<\/p>\n
Of the final 22 games in the Reds\u2019 season, 10 are against teams ahead of them in the standings, which means the season\u2019s not completely lost at 70-70, but there\u2019s no margin for error.<\/p>\n
After the team\u2019s three games at home with the Mets, the Reds go to San Diego for three against the Padres, who are one game ahead of the Mets in the wild-card standings.<\/p>\n
The San Diego trip is followed by three games in Sacramento against the A\u2019s, and then there are three more games in St. Louis against a Cardinals team that sits a half-game behind the Reds, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cincinnati also has four games against the Chicago Cubs at home before finishing with three in Milwaukee against a Brewers team that should have the National League Central wrapped up by then.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we all understand what\u2019s coming, and I think we put ourselves in this position,\u201d said Reds catcher Jose Trevino. \u201cI know every single guy in here can look at each other in the eye and say that we\u2019re ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
First, though, the Reds get a much-needed day off. They need to rest their bullpen, which was forced into using eight different relievers over the last two games, with two appearing in both games, covering 13 2\/3 innings. All nine innings of Tuesday\u2019s loss featured relievers, with right-hand Scott Barlow serving as the opener because scheduled starter Nick Lodolo was sick.<\/p>\n
An illness has run through the Reds clubhouse at the most inopportune time. Barlow, who subbed for the ailing Lodolo on Tuesday, was sent home from the ballpark on Wednesday because he was sick and wasn\u2019t going to be used in the game. Those two pitchers weren\u2019t alone, however. Several other players were sick and still playing. Even Francona\u2019s voice was raspy, and his coughs could be heard from outside his office following Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
That is part of September baseball. Other teams are dealing with similar circumstances, and there\u2019s no longer a COVID-19 injured list that allows healthy replacements to come in to take the place of sick players.<\/p>\n
Before Wednesday\u2019s game, Francona was asked about Lodolo\u2019s availability for his next start, and that\u2019s still up in the air. Even if Francona had stayed at a Holiday Inn Express instead of his condo in Northern Kentucky, his free continental breakfast wouldn\u2019t come with a crystal ball. Will Lodolo feel better? Barlow? Gavin Lux? Or even Francona himself? There\u2019s no telling.<\/p>\n
There is, however, a day when those who aren\u2019t feeling well can stay home and let the illness run its course ahead of their most crucial series of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201c(We) get the off day (to) recoup, recollect and then come back,\u201d Trevino said.<\/p>\n
Since taking two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies last month, the Reds have won just one of the six series they\u2019ve played, going 6-11 and dropping series to the Diamondbacks and Cardinals. The Los Angeles Dodgers also swept them in their series.<\/p>\n
After winning the first game against the Blue Jays, Cincinnati scored 18 runs on 25 hits over its final two games \u2014 and lost both games, allowing 25 runs on 30 hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll clean it up on the pitching side, I know we will,\u201d Trevino said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the guys who\u2019ve done it all year, guys who have stepped up and put up zeroes. I\u2019m not worried about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there are three pitchers the Reds could hand-pick for this series, it would likely be the three who are scheduled to take the mound this weekend.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s starter is All-Star Andrew Abbott, whose had the best season of any Reds starter. Brady Singer, who aside from Abbott has been maybe the team\u2019s most dependable starter, goes Saturday, and then finally, the team\u2019s Opening Day starter, Hunter Greene, pitches Sunday.<\/p>\n
This series may not put the final nail in the Reds\u2019 coffin if they don\u2019t sweep, but it would make the lid pretty tough to open with a few more nails left to close it completely.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Noelvi Marte: Katie Stratman \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014 Before the Cincinnati Reds\u2019 13-9 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, the New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2319,363,99],"class_list":["post-132085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}