Reds punch ticket to postseason for 1st time since 2013
The Cincinnati Reds are returning to the postseason for the first time since 2013.
Everything broke just right for the Reds on Friday. They defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-2 but needed a little extra help to secure a playoff berth. They got it.
The St. Louis Cardinals hammered the Milwaukee Brewers in the nightcap portion of their doubleheader and the Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Tampa Bay Rays earlier in the evening.
The @Reds are poised to clinch a playoff berth with a win tonight, if they hold on against the Twins. They needed the Phillies to lose tonight. (They did.) And the Reds need the Brewers to lose. (Milwaukee trails, 9-0.) @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) September 26, 2020
Entering September, a playoff berth seemed like a long shot in what had been a disappointing season. After signing the likes of Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos, the Reds began the campaign with a 15-20 record. They've gone 15-8 since then - and 10-2 in their last 12 - to vault back into the hunt for October.
In fact, the Reds' underachieving offense might have kept them from the postseason if not for the sterling play of their pitching staff - most notably Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo, and Sonny Gray.
The Reds, who just clinched a playoff berth, are hitting .211 as a team. That's the lowest mark for any club since the 1910 White Sox.
— Matthew Pouliot (@matthewpouliot) September 26, 2020
Still, Moustakas did his part Friday, blasting a pair of home runs in the victory.
Cincinnati will look to do better in these playoffs after losing the wild-card game to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013. The Reds last won a playoff series in 1995 when they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.