The Cincinnati Reds had a big day on Friday. They entered the day a game behind the New York Mets for the third and final wild card spot. And the Reds were also one game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With three games remaining in the season those were the only three teams still alive in the playoff race.
The Mets were in Miami to take on the Marlins and their game began before the other team teams were able to take the field. New York grabbed an early 2-0 lead, but the Marlins stormed back and scored six runs in the bottom of the 5th inning and neither team would score the rest of the way. The loss dropped the Mets to 82-78 on the season.
That final meant that if Cincinnati could pick up a win that they would pull even with New York in the standings. To do so, though, they were going to have to come from behind as the Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning. The Reds were up to the task, though. They tied the game up in the next inning and they took the lead in the 6th by scoring two runs. From there it was all bullpen, all the time, and neither team would score again as Cincinnati won to move to 82-78 and tie the Mets in the standings.
That tie, though, isn’t really a tie. Cincinnati owns the tiebreaker, which means that the Mets have to actually finish the season with more wins than the Reds in order to make the playoffs. Cincinnati just needs to simply be in a tie with the Mets, Diamondbacks, or both to secure a playoff spot.
Arizona was playing in San Diego and didn’t get started until both the Reds and the Mets games were already completed. The Diamondbacks scored a run in both the 1st and 3rd innings, but saw the Padres plate five runs in the 4th in large part to a Fernando Tatis Jr. grand slam with two outs. San Diego tacked on another run an inning later to make it 6-2. Arizona scored twice in the 8th and had the bases loaded but couldn’t add to it as Mason Miller stranded everyone. The Padres scored a run in the bottom of the inning and held on for a 7-4 win. The loss by the Diamondbacks eliminated them from the playoff race as the most they could do is finish tied with the Reds, and in that case they would lose the tiebreaker.
That leaves just the Reds and the Mets in the playoff race. A win by Cincinnati combined with a loss by New York would clinch a playoff spot for the Reds. However, a loss by Cincinnati on Saturday and a win by the Mets would still leave open a chance for the Reds. In that situation Cincinnati would need to win and have New York lose in order to make the playoffs.
Cincinnati will face off against the Brewers on FOX as the national game of the week at 7:15pm ET. Unfortunately if you are in the Columbus, Ohio area your local FOX station will not be carrying the game as the Cleveland Guardians game is being chosen by that affiliate.
The Mets play Miami earlier in the day. With a 4:10pm ET start the chances are good that the Reds will know if they can clinch or not by the time they take the field.
