Turns out what the Cincinnati Reds really needed to put a dent in their slump was a Brady Singer start.
Entering their Aug. 31 series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals having lost eight of their last nine games and five straight, Singer continued his late-season flourish with an outing of six innings, five hits, three earned runs and eight strikeouts.
That brought Singer’s ERA over his last seven starts to 1.98, and the Reds were 6-1 in those games.
Singer’s latest effort helped the Reds salvage the series finale against the Cardinals in a 7-4 victory at Great American Ball Park. Singer, acquired in the marquee, offseason trade with the Kansas City Royals for Jonathan India, improved to 12-9 with a 4.08 ERA overall in 2025.
More importantly, the Reds won for just the second time in their last 10 games on and improved to 69-68.
“It makes it easier when you’re in this thing, when you’re in the race,” Singer said. “Games are exciting and stuff like that. It gives you, obviously, more motivation but yeah, nothing’s changed too much on (my) routine or anything like that. Just going out there, competing and trying to do the best I can do that day and keep us in the game and give us a chance.”
The Reds picked up a game on the New York Mets, who lost to the Miami Marlins Aug. 31, in the race for a National League wild card berth. The Reds are now 4.0 games behind New York, which owns the No. 3 wild card position. The Mets open a series at the Detroit Tigers Sept. 1.
“There’s never (a game) that’s not important,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I thought it was important five days ago. Every day is important. I did think today we had really good energy because it wasn’t an easy game to win and our guys did good. It’s easy to, not ‘woe is me,’ but something goes wrong and ‘here we go.’… They kept fighting and that’s a good trait.”
Austin Hays’ two-run homer to left field in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 deadlock for a 5-3 lead. The Cardinals pulled to within a run at 5-4 in the top of the seventh when catcher Jimmy Crooks homered off Sam Moll, but the Reds answered back with an insurance run in the bottom of the frame. Matt McLain (1-for-2, two walks) put the game on ice in the eighth with a solo home run to left field, which was his second in as many games.
“I’m trying to have quality at-bats and help the team win,” McLain said. “I can do that by having quality at-bats, so that’s all I’m trying to do.”
From there, Cincinnati relievers Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagán shut the door on the Cardinals. For Pagán, the save was his 26th in 31 opportunities.
Red pitchers struck out 15, including all three of Pagán’s and Santillan’s outs in the eighth and ninth, and didn’t walk a batter.
One month, 25 games left for Reds to make their playoff push
The Reds have reached September baseball, and it’s past time for them to go.
After the Aug. 31 series finale against St. Louis, 25 games remain in the 2025 season. Those 25 games still make up the toughest remaining schedule among contending clubs, and in few series is that more evident than in the next one against the Toronto Blue Jays with three games beginning Sept. 1.
It’s hard not to look ahead to the Reds’ series against the New York Mets Sept. 5-7. Even picking up one game in the standings against the Mets could reshape the entire conversation about Cincinnati’s September stretch run. But first, the Reds have to get through the American League East-leading Blue Jays at Great American Ball Park.
“From here on out, they’re all must-win games,” McLain said. “So, every day is as important as the next and the one before, so good win (Aug. 31) but got to win tomorrow.”
Toronto (79-58) beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 Aug. 31 and now have a 3.0 game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East, so the tight race means the Blue Jays will be highly motivated.
The deep, power-laden Jays will bring with them to Cincinnati the resurgent, 35-year-old George Springer, who’s hitting .298 with a .921 OPS and a team-leading 24 home runs.
Behind Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .288 with 21 homers. Tying it all together in the Toronto lineup is Bo Bichette. He’s hitting .308 with 172 hits, 86 RBI and 15 home runs. After that, the Blue Jays still have players like All-Star Alejandro Kirk (.296 batting average with 11 homers, 113 hits and 60 RBI).
So, suffice it to say the Reds have a real challenge on their hands if they want to make the Mets series count as much as possible.
Here’s how the starting pitching matchups are scheduled to play out for Reds-Jays:
Monday, Sept. 1 (1:10 p.m.) − Reds RHP Hunter Greene (5-4, 2.81 ERA) vs. Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (11-7, 4.14 ERA). ScheduledTuesday, Sept. 2 (6:40 p.m.) − Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (8-7, 3.22 ERA) vs. Jays RHP Jose Berrios (9-5, 3.95 ERA).Wednesday, Sept. 3 (6:40 p.m.) − Reds RHP Zack Littell (9-8, 3.36 ERA) vs. RHP Shane Bieber (1-1, 2.38 ERA).