The New York Mets came from behind twice to beat the Detroit Tigers 10-8 on Labor Day.
Who cares?
The Cincinnati Reds care. And they definitely are paying attention.
When they came back after a deflating blown save in the top of the ninth to walk it off against American League East-leading Toronto in the bottom of the ninth, they assured keeping pace for that final NL wild-card spot and staving off the other would-be challengers nipping at them.
Still in the race? If you say so.
Still believing they are? Still fighting like they are?
“That’s not an issue,” manager Terry Francona said after that 5-4 victory that looked about three outs away from becoming a dagger to open September.
Now all they have to do is prove it in this final month.
The Reds finished August looking more like they were finished, period.
Eight losses in nine games before averting a sweep to the Cardinals on Aug. 31. They went from a half-game behind the Mets to five in barely a week.
Now they have back-to-back wins. For the first time in two weeks.
They probably don’t have enough in a team made up of top-flight starting pitching and little else to reach October at this point. Their own performance and the odds say that much.
But they have September to prove they’re who they say they are. A team that is better than last year, that looks hard in the mirror, is accountable for its mistakes and letdowns, that keeps it collective head in the game.
If they answer their August dog days with that much, they might actually have a chance to get to the playoffs. What certain is that it’s their only chance.
And they know it. Every bit as much as they know the latest Mets result.
You don’t even have to ask them. Just watch them.
Over the weekend, after a stretch of sloppy play, the coaching staff put the team through pregame outfield drills and pitchers fielding practice with the regular infielders at their positions.
The front office didn’t get cute when rosters expanded on Sept. 1. The best hitter in the system, Sal Stewart, was on the roster, in the lineup, and delivering a single – if not a spark – in his first at-bat during a two-run rally in the second that held up for a lead until the rollicking ninth inning.
And ahead of this two-game mini streak, the players had enough, then had a players-only meeting.
“We just felt like we were a little flat,” third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes said. “We felt like whether we scored or not, when the other team was punching us back, we were kind of just staying flat and not trying to punch back.”
In the Blue Jays game, Hayes led off the bottom of the ninth after what looked like a three-run knockout punch by the Jays in the top half and delivered his third hit of the game.
“My biggest thing was to try to find a way on and that we have a chance if we can get a guy on,” he said.
One out later, a single, double and walk-off single won the game.
“That’s what it’s about,” Hayes said. “Got to never give up until the last out.”
That win kept them four games back of the Mets – who come to town for a three-game set after this series.
Maybe the Reds make the playoffs. Maybe they don’t make the playoffs.
But it’s up to them whether they make noise. Whether they want to be heard.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Are the Reds in the playoffs? Cincinnati faces September in hunt for the postseason
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
