MILWAUKEE – A rollicking, careening, whiplash-inducing six months of baseball landed the Cincinnati Reds in the playoffs on the final day of the season Sept. 28 in Milwaukee.
They got in by the narrowest of margins after rebounding twice in September from crushing days and stretches that dropped their season record under .500 three times over the final 22 days of the season.
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The five biggest victories of the season that got them to October:
1. Sept. 26 at Milwaukee — Trade-deadline acquisition Zack Littell and the bullpen held the Brewers to a run, and trade-deadline acquisition Miguel Andujar drove in a run as the Reds moved back into playoff position with a 3-1 victory that set the stage for their first series win over the Brewers since August 2022 and clinching their first full-season* playoff berth in 12 years on the final day of the season.
Elly De La Cruz, here scoring on a three-run Spencer Steer homer, was moved down in the order and responded during a game against the Cardinals Sept. 15. doubling and walking twice. The Reds won six of their next seven games.
2. Sept. 15 at St. Louis — Reeling from crushing sweep at the hands of the Athletics at their minor-league ballpark in Sacramento that dropped the Reds’ record below .500 with 13 games to play, the Reds shuffled the lineup — dropping All-Star Elly De La Cruz from the third spot for the first time all year — and beat the Cardinals 11-6. De La Cruz doubled and walked twice. The win started the Reds on a 6-1 surge that included a four-hame sweep of the Cubs and put the Reds in playoff position with six games to play.
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3. Sept. 6 vs. New York Mets — The night after what might have been the most deflating loss of the season (a one-run loss after the Reds loaded the bases in the ninth with none out and failed to score), the Reds rebounded to beat the Mets 6-3, then won the next night to win that series and secure the tiebreaker advantage over New York.
Noelvi Marte pulls the Reds’ season out of the cheap seats Sept. 25 in 2-1 win over the Pirates. The catch helped preserve the victory and kept the Reds from being swept by Pittsburgh.
4. Sept. 25 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates — With the Reds clinging to a 2-1 lead and trying to avoid a devastating sweep at the hands of the last-place Pirates in Game 159, Bryan Reynolds lifted a high fly over the right field wall with one out in the ninth. And right-fielder Noelvi Marte, a converted infielder who never played outfield in his life until July, pulled the ball back from the seats — and the season from the brink in the process.
5. June 24 vs. New York Yankees — Right-hander Chase Burns, one of the top pitching prospects in the game, makes his major league debut less than a year after being drafted second overall out of Wake Forest, strikes out eight Yankees — including the first five he faces — in five innings, without a walk, in a game the Reds won in 11 innings. “There’s a reason why he was drafted second overall and why he flew through the minor leagues,” Aaron Judge said. “He’s got an electric arm.” Burns was a key in the rotation during Hunter Greene’s injury absence and has since become a 100-mph weapon in a velocity-boosted, playoff-caliber bullpen.
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*-The Reds made an expanded, 16-team playoff field during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Top 5 wins that fueled Cincinnati Reds’ thrill ride to October