MILWAUKEE — For the Reds, their postseason hopes hinge entirely on what happens on the final day of the season on Sunday.
By taking a 7-4 victory over the Brewers and winning the first two games of the three-game series on Saturday night, the Reds (83-78) maintained their command of the race for the final National League Wild Card spot. The Mets (83-78) also won on Saturday at Miami, leaving the two teams tied in the standings going into Sunday.
Because Cincinnati owns the tiebreaker based on its season series win over New York (4-2), it has some wiggle room. If the Reds win the finale at American Family Field, they clinch a playoff spot regardless of what the Mets do on Sunday. If the Reds lose, they must hope the Mets also lose vs. the Marlins to get in.
A six-run top of the third inning with 10 men sent to the plate gave Cincinnati a 6-0 lead over Milwaukee on Saturday. While a pair of errors boosted the rally, there were some key hits, including TJ Friedl’s two-out, two-run single to left field against rookie Jacob Misiorowski. A third run crossed during the play on Isaac Collins’ throwing error.
Sal Stewart, who hit an RBI single to center field to score the Reds’ first run in the third, added a two-out solo home run to right-center field in the sixth inning that gave the club a five-run lead.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. The Brewers led off the bottom of the sixth with Jackson Chourio hitting a 2-2 pitch to center field for a solo homer.
Following a string of dominant appearances, Connor Phillips was shaky after replacing Abbott with one out in the sixth — walking his first batter on four pitches and hitting his second batter with a pitch. Phillips gave up pinch-hitter Jake Bauers’ two-out RBI single to close the gap to three runs. Graham Ashcraft took over and also walked his first batter before getting the third out. Nick Martinez stopped Milwaukee’s momentum with two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth.
Closer Emilio Pagán pitched for the fourth consecutive day, working a scoreless ninth for his 32nd save.
For the Reds, it was a perfect time to snap their streak of futility vs. a division rival.
The Brewers haven’t just had their number for most of the past four years, it felt like they had all of the numbers, the letters and the punctuation, too. Milwaukee had taken each of the previous 13 series from Cincinnati, 14 of the past 15 and 17 of 19 since 2021.
If they can win one more game — and sweep the series — the Reds will be in the postseason for the first time since 2020.
