Cincinnati Reds: Andrew Abbott discusses win over streaking Milwaukee Brewers
Cincinnati Reds starter Andrew Abbott discussed his club’s win to end the Brewers’ 14-game winning streak.
Now that the Cincinnati Reds have escaped that grueling series against the Milwaukee Brewers with playoff hopes intact – and even a victory in hand – they would do well to turn into Brewers fans for a few days.
As they opened a nine-game, three-city trip out west, the Reds trailed the idle New York Mets for the final National League playoff spot by 1 1/2 games with 37 to play entering games of Aug. 18.
Three of those 37 games are against the Mets in a couple of weeks, so the Reds still controlled their own playoff path.
But when the Brewers responded to their series-finale loss to the Reds with a victory over the Cubs the next day in the opener of a doubleheader – which is part of a five-game series at Wrigley Field – it marked the ninth loss in 15 games for the struggling Cubs.
That put the team in the NL’s top wild-card position just 5 1/2 games ahead of the Reds (65-60) – who have four more meetings with Chicago this season (in Cincinnati). The San Diego Padres were one game back of the Cubs.
All of a sudden, the top four wild-card contenders in the NL for three playoff berths are bunched up closer than the top two teams in two of the six division races.
Buckle up.
The Brewers are running away with the NL Central division. That horse is out of the barn.
But if Milwaukee does enough damage against the Cubs this week, a lot more than a wild-card race has a chance to tighten up.
Here are those 37 remaining games on the Reds schedule (MLB’s toughest remaining schedule on paper):