Expect a night of white-knuckle scoreboard watching ahead for the Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds took care of business for the day on Sept. 25, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1, in a rain-delayed matinee at Great American Ball Park. The victory brought Cincinnati (81-78) to within a half-game of the New York Mets for the final National League playoff spot.
Noelvi Marte, who has played less than a season at the right field position, saved the game and Cincinnati’s playoff hopes with a home-run robbery of Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds at the right field wall. Reynolds’ hit had plenty of distance and height, and it would have tied the game at two but for Marte’s glove intervening.
The Reds posted two runs in the fifth inning. Marte and Gavin Lux both notched RBI singles, and Lux’s stood as the decisive hit. The Pirates plated a run against Cincinnati reliever Tony Santillan in the eighth inning but Emilio Pagán earned his 30th save in 36 tries, thanks in large part to Marte’s catch.
“That game’s tied. That’s taking a run off the board,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “
Cincinnati starting pitcher Nick Lodolo was lifted from the game early due to an injury precaution (right groin) and was having one of his best outings of the year. He exited after 6 1/3 innings with a 2-0 lead, and had allowed just two hits and a walk against 12 strikeouts. All of that was accomplished on just 81 pitches.
Asked about Lodolo’s health afterward, Francona said he felt Lodolo would be OK after speaking with the club’s trainers and Dr. Timothy Kremchek, the team physician.
Lodolo said he hadn’t yet turned his attention to what the groin situation could mean for his postseason availability, should the Reds reach that stage.
“I was happy with the way I threw it,” Lodolo said. “I’d been looking to spin the ball like that for a while. It felt really good to do that, especially in a time where we needed. It felt good. Definitely sucks that it got cut a little bit short but overall, I was happy with it.”
The contest was the final regular-season home game of 2025 for the Reds, and 24,249 attended the game. The “#PackGABP” campaign, a late push to drive attendance numbers, netted a total series attendance of 84,821. The club saw 2,079,931 pass through the turnstiles over the 81 games played at Great American Ball Park this year.
Here’s what’s next in the Reds playoff push
Now, the Reds hit the road for the final regular-season series against the Milwaukee Brewers. If you’re a Reds player, staffer, coach or fan, you’re hoping the trip lasts well beyond this weekend.
The Reds will need help to avoid coming home on Sunday night after the Brewers series concludes, which would signal the conclusion of the season.
The trip begins with the aforementioned scoreboard watching. Cincinnati will be paying close attention to the Mets as they conclude their series with the Chicago Cubs (7:40 p.m. ET) at Wrigley Field Sept. 25. The Arizona Diamondbacks, who were tied with the Reds to begin the day, lost a game to the Reds when they were trouced 8-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers later Sept. 25.
A Mets loss would pull the Reds into a tie for the final wild card spot, and Cincinnati would be back in control of its playoff fate as it holds the all-important tiebreaker over the Mets.
The Reds are hoping the upcoming road trip lasts beyond the Brewers series, and manager Terry Francona joked that he can tell who the true believers are in the Reds clubhouse based on how they’ve packed for the journey.
“I would say this would be a very good test to see who believes because if you see people with, like, 10 underwear, they believe,” Francona said. “If you see people with two, might want to filter them out.”
Can the Reds finally beat the Brewers?
If the Reds get the help they need from the Cubs or the Mets’ next opponent, the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati will still have its hands full with the Brewers.
Milwaukee has already polished off its third consecutive NL Central division title and has the best record in baseball (96-63).
Cincinnati has lost 13 consecutive series against the Brewers, and 32 of their last 42 games. The last time the Reds took a series off Milwaukee was during the first week of August 2022.
“Energy’s great,” Lodolo said. “We know what we’ve got to do. Brewers are a really good team. They’ve been tough on everybody, not just us. You want to get into the playoffs, you got to beat some of the best. We’ll be ready to roll.”
If the Reds survive the MLB’s final weekend and advance to the postseason, they’d progress to the best-of-three wild card round of the playoffs, which would most likely see them face the Los Angeles Dodgers with the entire series being played at Dodger Stadium. That runs through Oct. 2.
Then, if the Reds survived the Dodgers, they’d advance to the best-of-five NL Division Series, which would eventually bring postseason baseball back to Cincinnati and Great American Ball Park for the first time since 2012. Based on the side of the NL playoff bracket the Reds would most likely appear in, their NLDS would likely begin Oct. 4 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, and continue there Oct. 6 before shifting back to Cincinnati.
So, about 10 days from Sept. 25 is when the Reds would prefer to return to the Queen City. Hence, Francona might be interested to know which players packed enough undergarments to survive stops in Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Reds pulled out a win vs. the Pirates. Here’s where the playoff race stands
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
