Reds’ push for a sweep-free season narrowly comes up short in homestretch

The Reds are now in the postseason for the first time since 2020, and for the first time in a full-length season since 2013.The monumental achievement is historic for a Reds franchise that has undergone significant struggles over the past decade.However, the Reds also came up just two wins shy of another record that dominated significant attention throughout much of the season: The ability to go all season without being swept in a single series.In total, the Reds played in 52 series this season, winning at least one game in 42 straight-series since Opening Day.However, it would ultimately be the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who would end this streak for the team last month in the team’s 43rd series of 2025.Between Aug. 25 and 27, the Dodgers would rack up three straight dominant wins that saw Los Angeles accumulate a total of 18 runs against the Reds. In contrast, Cincinnati would rack up just four.Now, the Reds are set to face off again against the Dodgers this week for their third series this season. The Reds maintain a record of one win and five losses against Los Angeles this year, after Cincinnati found more limited success at home in their first series at Great American Ballpark in July.However, the back-to-back Dodgers losses wouldn’t be the last time that the Reds would be swept this season. Additionally, to add insult to injury, the Reds would come up short just weeks later by being swept again in their 48th series of the season to the Athletics.There, the Reds would again underperform on a road stretch against the Athletics in their current home of Sacramento, California. Unlike the Dodgers, the Athletics finished the 2025 regular season with a losing 76-86 record, the 22nd best of the league’s 30 teams. Although like the Dodgers, none of the three games they played of the series were particularly close, with the Reds only racking up nine total runs to the Athletics’ 21.After the Reds clinched a postseason slot on Sunday, catcher Jose Trevino cited the team’s thrashing by the Athletics as a particular low-point for the Reds season that could have been a death-knell for the rest of the team’s season if they let it be.”The first thing that comes to mind is getting swept in Sacramento, we could have folded, we could have rolled over,” said Trevino after the Reds’ final regular season game against the Milwaukee Brewers. “And we didn’t. We kept fighting. You know, we knew there was still a chance. And that’s what this team is all about. We still got a chance. We’re going to give it everything we got.”Very few teams have ever managed to go their entire season without being swept. If they had managed it, it would have been the first time in Reds franchise history that Cincinnati had ever achieved such a feat.However, unlike the Reds’ accomplishment of making it into the postseason, the accolade of going sweep-free is largely symbolic in nature, and does not award any actual recognition from Major League Baseball. Despite this, it still would bestow bragging rights on Cincinnati as being a team that could beat any team it faced, a reputation that much of the Reds’ roster has openly adopted in its public remarks this season.On Sunday after the team’s final regular season game against the Brewers, Elly De La Cruz spoke to the team’s reputation as being unkillable this season, comparing the team to a pack of cockroaches.”Like, I said, we stay together, we play together, and we can make anything,” said De La Cruz. “We can do anything. They can’t kill us. They can’t kill us… We’re like cockroaches. They can’t kill us.”The first pitch for the playoff series between the Reds and Dodgers is set to be thrown out at 9:08 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. A third game will also be played on Thursday at a yet-to-be-determined time if no winner of the series has been declared by the end of Wednesday’s game.

The Reds are now in the postseason for the first time since 2020, and for the first time in a full-length season since 2013.

The monumental achievement is historic for a Reds franchise that has undergone significant struggles over the past decade.

However, the Reds also came up just two wins shy of another record that dominated significant attention throughout much of the season: The ability to go all season without being swept in a single series.

In total, the Reds played in 52 series this season, winning at least one game in 42 straight-series since Opening Day.

However, it would ultimately be the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who would end this streak for the team last month in the team’s 43rd series of 2025.

Between Aug. 25 and 27, the Dodgers would rack up three straight dominant wins that saw Los Angeles accumulate a total of 18 runs against the Reds. In contrast, Cincinnati would rack up just four.

Now, the Reds are set to face off again against the Dodgers this week for their third series this season. The Reds maintain a record of one win and five losses against Los Angeles this year, after Cincinnati found more limited success at home in their first series at Great American Ballpark in July.

However, the back-to-back Dodgers losses wouldn’t be the last time that the Reds would be swept this season. Additionally, to add insult to injury, the Reds would come up short just weeks later by being swept again in their 48th series of the season to the Athletics.

There, the Reds would again underperform on a road stretch against the Athletics in their current home of Sacramento, California. Unlike the Dodgers, the Athletics finished the 2025 regular season with a losing 76-86 record, the 22nd best of the league’s 30 teams. Although like the Dodgers, none of the three games they played of the series were particularly close, with the Reds only racking up nine total runs to the Athletics’ 21.

After the Reds clinched a postseason slot on Sunday, catcher Jose Trevino cited the team’s thrashing by the Athletics as a particular low-point for the Reds season that could have been a death-knell for the rest of the team’s season if they let it be.

“The first thing that comes to mind is getting swept in Sacramento, we could have folded, we could have rolled over,” said Trevino after the Reds’ final regular season game against the Milwaukee Brewers. “And we didn’t. We kept fighting. You know, we knew there was still a chance. And that’s what this team is all about. We still got a chance. We’re going to give it everything we got.”

Very few teams have ever managed to go their entire season without being swept. If they had managed it, it would have been the first time in Reds franchise history that Cincinnati had ever achieved such a feat.

However, unlike the Reds’ accomplishment of making it into the postseason, the accolade of going sweep-free is largely symbolic in nature, and does not award any actual recognition from Major League Baseball. Despite this, it still would bestow bragging rights on Cincinnati as being a team that could beat any team it faced, a reputation that much of the Reds’ roster has openly adopted in its public remarks this season.

On Sunday after the team’s final regular season game against the Brewers, Elly De La Cruz spoke to the team’s reputation as being unkillable this season, comparing the team to a pack of cockroaches.

“Like, I said, we stay together, we play together, and we can make anything,” said De La Cruz. “We can do anything. They can’t kill us. They can’t kill us… We’re like cockroaches. They can’t kill us.”

The first pitch for the playoff series between the Reds and Dodgers is set to be thrown out at 9:08 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. A third game will also be played on Thursday at a yet-to-be-determined time if no winner of the series has been declared by the end of Wednesday’s game.