CINCINNATI (AP/WKRC) – Noelvi Marté might have saved the Cincinnati Reds’ playoff hopes when he robbed Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds of a home run with a spectacular catch over the wall in the ninth inning of a 2-1 win on Thursday.
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, the Reds remained one game back of the New York Mets for the final NL wild card spot. The Mets defeated the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers and dropped two games back.
The 6-foot-2 Marté jumped at the 8-foot wall and reached back above the first-row of seats to catch Reynolds’ 348-foot drive for the second out of the ninth. Marté also had the other two outs in the ninth as Emilio Pagán picked up his career-high 30th save in 36 chances.
Now the Reds look to jump the Mets in the standings with three games remaining — a series at the first-place Milwaukee Brewers that starts on Friday night. Zack Littell (10-8, 3.86 ERA) opposes Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25 ERA). Milwaukee is 21-7 in starts by Priester.
The Brewers have won seven of ten games in the season series and can clinch the NL’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the postseason with a win on Friday.
Elly De La Cruz leads the Reds with 21 home runs while slugging .439. Gavin Lux is 10 for 34 with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs over the past 10 games.
“It doesn’t really matter who we play right now. We don’t really care,” Pagán said, via Mark Sheldon on MLB.com. “We just want to finish strong and give ourselves an opportunity. Obviously, it’s going to be a talking point because of the history. We’re a different team. We’re a different team than when we were last in Milwaukee, and [the team] that’s been playing against them the last few years.”
IF REDS GO 3-0
need one Mets lossDiamondbacks results do not matter
IF REDS GO 2-1
need two Mets lossesDiamondbacks results do not matter
IF REDS GO 1-2
need three Mets lossesneed one Diamondbacks loss
IF REDS GO 0-3