The Cincinnati Reds open the toughest remaining MLB schedule with three this weekend against the Brewers. They're 1/2 game out of playoff position.
Don't look now, but the Cincinnati Reds just took control of their own playoff destiny this week. And they took it by the throat on a day they didn't even play.
Win and they’re in. It’s as simple as that, albeit with 40 games to go – and even though they’re still on the outside looking in at the six-team National League playoff picture.
That’s because their back-to-back victories over the NL East-leading Phillies this week combined with the continued free fall of the New York Mets has put the Reds in the driver’s seat of their own bus to October.
The Mets cling to the third and final wild-card position but after losing for the second straight night to the Braves on Aug. 14 – and for the 12th time in 14 games overall – they lead the Reds by only a half-game.
The Reds, who open a series Friday against the white-hot Brewers, have three games at home against the Mets Sept. 5-7.
The Cardinals are the closest challengers behind the Reds, three games behind Cincinnati.
All of which means, that if the Reds keep winning at a pace that maintains roughly the status quo, they’ll leap-frog the Mets with a series win in September.
In fact, a series win gives them the additional benefit of winning the season series (they beat the Mets two out of three in New York last month), which would give the Reds an additional game advantage on the Mets because season series records are used as tiebreakers for playoff berths.
First thing’s first: Trying to beat the Brewers in a series for the first time in more than three years.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds now control their own playoff path. Here’s why, how
Category: Baseball
