Despite a loss, the Cincinnati Reds clinched the National League’s final playoff berth in the last game of the regular season and will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL wild card series beginning Tuesday.
Cincinnati needed a win or a New York Mets loss Sunday to secure its first playoff trip in a full season since 2013. The Reds took a 2-0 lead early against the Brewers on Sunday, but Milwaukee came back for a 4-2 victory at American Family Field.
Fortunately for the Reds, they got some help.
The Mets lost 4-0 against the Marlins in Miami, completing New York’s slow-motion collapse that began more than three months ago. The Mets had MLB’s best record at 45-24 on June 12 but fell off a cliff, going 38-55 the rest of the way including two seven-game losing streaks and an eight-game skid.
New York had baseball’s largest opening day payroll in the first year of Juan Soto’s record 15-year, $765 million contract and faces a long winter after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history.
A two-time World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox, manager Terry Francona got the Reds to the playoffs in his first year with Cincinnati. The Reds’ most recent postseason trip was in the COVID-shortened 2020, sneaking in with a 31-29 record.
Cincinnati’s NL wild card series at Dodger Stadium begins on Tuesday, Sept. 30 with first pitch set for 9:08 p.m. ET. The winner of the best-of-three set will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS beginning Saturday, Oct 4.