Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brady Singer talks strong outing against Arizona Diamondbacks
Cincinnati Reds starter Brady Singer has a 1.80 ERA over his past six starts after a strong outing in Reds’ win over Arizona Sunday.
The Cincinnati Reds wrap up their road trip with three critical games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.The Reds enter the Dodgers series only 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild card playoff position.The Reds are expected to get starter Nick Lodolo back from the IL to start the final game of the series and road trip.
PHOENIX – October’s more than a month away. But for the Cincinnati Reds, the playoffs start now.
As they prepared to open a big series in Los Angeles against the defending-champion Dodgers, the Reds were still on the outside looking in at the National League playoff picture.
But the next 2 1/2 weeks of games might as well be marketed as official play-in series for the Reds for the outsized value of those games on the postseason chase – four of the five series coming against teams in playoff position, including three first-place teams.
“We’ve got the hardest schedule in baseball. It’s like every team we’re playing right now is in first place in their division,” said Reds outfielder Austin Hays as he considered the electricity that might be flowing at Dodger Stadium this week.
“I think sometimes the energy that comes with that just adds to what’s out there on the field,”said Hays, who had the late go-ahead RBI in the series finale that got the Reds out of Arizona with the victory that put them just 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the National League’s final playoff position heading into L.A.
Fans and media figure to be measuring every game and play for its impact on October for both the Reds and a Dodgers team that forged a first-place tie in the National League West with San Diego with a win over the Padres just ahead of the Reds matchup.
Players will at least feel the rush from the loud, raucous, 50,000-strong atmosphere on the big stage of the big-market contenders, especially compared to the lesser-light places that Hays said forces players to “almost have to push harder to get the energy up for yourself.”
Los Angeles native Hunter Greene and his 100-mph fastball open the series on the mound for the Reds, who get Southern California native Nick Lodolo and his electric stuff back from the injured list for Wednesday’s series finale against Shohei Ohtani – with Hall of Fame-bound Clayton Kerhsaw starting for the Dodgers in the game in between.
“I’ll just be juiced in general because I’m back pitching,” said Lodolo, who missed the last week recovering from a blister on his index finger.
Whether the heat of the rising stakes and October-caliber opponents – especially the Dodgers in L.A. – provide any extra energy, Lodolo said he and the team don’t need it.
“We know where we stand,” he said. ”Don’t get me wrong: The environment (at Dodger Stadium) is one of the best in baseball. So that alone gets you excited.
“But we all know that every game at this point is pretty important going forward,” he added, ”especially when you get to September. I don’t think we need any extra motivation.
“We all know what we’ve got ahead and what we need to do.”
To that point, here’s the Reds schedule the next five series (records through Aug. 24, first-place teams in bold):
at Los Angeles Dodgers (74-57, tied 1st, NL West) – Aug. 25-27 (three games)vs. St. Louis Cardinals (64-67, 4th NL Central) – Aug. 29-30 (three)vs. Toronto Blue Jays (76-55, 1st, AL East) – Sept. 1-3 (three)vs. New York Mets (69-61, 2nd NL East) – Sept. 5-7 (three)at San Diego Padres (74-57, tied 1st, NL West) – Sept. 8-10 (three)
That’s nearly half the Reds’ remaining 31 games.
Which means they could be sitting in the driver’s seat on the road to October by the end of that stretch. Or scrambling.
“A lot of things can change in whatever we’ve got left, 30 something games,” said Hays, who said he likes playing at Dodger Stadium.
Austin Hays has three hits as offense wakes up in 6-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Austin Hayes had three hits Sunday, including the go-ahead, run-scoring single in a big Reds eighth inning in Arizona.
“When you go to a place like L.A. or New York, or you go to Citizens Bank Park (in Philadelphia), it feels like a playoff game, just because it’s as maxed out as it can get almost every game,” Hays said. “You’re getting that extra push just from the atmosphere.”
If anything, the players should enjoy this stretch of games, the way manager Terry Francona sees it, given the stakes for the season and the magnitude of each game, a time for more excitement.
“There should be,” Francona said. “I even told these guys, the games in April sometimes aren’t real glamorous. Because it’s cold. But the teams that don’t get buried, if you give yourselves a chance to play games later in the year, it can be really fun.
“We didn’t come out of the gate on fire, but we didn’t get buried, either.”
In addition to its importance for both teams in the standings, the Dodgers series also could be a prelude to October, as in a first-round matchup if the Dodgers wind up as the No. 3 division winner and the Reds pass the Mets for the third wild-card spot. That would mean a return trip to the same spot for another three-game series with even more on the line.
Lodolo, who admits he’s looking forward to his first start at Dodger Stadium, echoes teammates by refusing to look far enough ahead to care about rematches.
“Take care of your business,” he said. “We’re trying to make the playoffs. Once you get there, I feel like it really doesn’t matter who you play. They’re all playoff teams. We’ve played them all. We’re just trying to be in the dance.”