For the first time since the 2020 season, the Cincinnati Reds are playoff bound!Despite dropping the regular-season finale against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds were able to clinch the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League, thanks to a 4-0 win by the Miami Marlins over the New York Mets.The Reds and Mets entered Sunday with identical 83-78 records, but Cincinnati owned the head-to-head tiebreaker, winning four of the six games the two teams played.Cincinnati now prepares for a best-of-three Wild Card series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending World Series champions.Before the first pitch flies on Tuesday night, here’s everything you need to know as the Reds embark on their first postseason run in five seasons.Series ScheduleThe entirety of the Wild Card series will be played in Los Angeles, with the team who wins two games first advancing to the NLDS.Here’s when each game will be played:Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30: 9:08 p.m.Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1: 9:08 p.m.Game 3*: Thursday, Oct. 2: 9:08 p.m.Game 3 will only be played if the first two games are split. The time Game 3 is played also could change, based on the outcomes of the other series.ESPN is slated to broadcast all three games.Season SeriesCincinnati and Los Angeles met six times this year, three times each at Great American Ball Park and Dodger Stadium.The Dodgers got the better of the Reds this year, winning five of the six games played between the two clubs. Cincinnati’s only win came on July 30, when Spencer Steer laced a two-run double in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and help lead the Reds to a 5-4 win.Cincinnati Reds results vs. Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 regular season7/28: L, 5-27/29: L, 5-47/30: W, 5-28/25: L, 7-08/26: L, 6-38/27: L, 5-1In total, Los Angeles’ offense has doubled the Reds output in head-to-head matchups this year, 30-15.All six meetings between the two teams came after the All-Star break.How They Stack Up If the Reds want to provide the postseason with a major early upset, it’ll be via Cincinnati’s pitching.Both the Dodgers (third) and Reds(fourth) are in the top five in the National League in batting average against, with the opposition hitting just .232 against LA’s arms and just .233 against Cincinnati’s.The two clubs are also next to each other in staff ERA, with the Reds (3.86) ranking seventh in the NL and the Dodgers (3.95) right behind them at eighth.The biggest discrepancy in the matchup is on offense.Boasting one of the lineups in the game, the Dodgers finished the regular season third in batting average (.253) and first in slugging (.441) and OPS (.768), all while leading the NL in runs scored (825) and home runs (244).Here’s how Cincinnati finished in those categories, respectively:Batting average: .245 (11th)Slugging percentage: .391 (9th)OPS: .706 (10th)Runs scored: 716 (8th)Home runs: 167 (8th)The top-end of the Reds rotation is going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in keeping the Dodgers potent offense at bay, giving Cincinnati’s bats a chance.Playoff HistoryDespite the historic nature of both franchises, this year will mark just the second time the Reds and Dodgers meet beyond the regular season.That meeting came in 1995, when the Reds swept the Dodgers in the NLDS.Opening in Los Angeles, Cincinnati jumped all over the Dodgers in the series’ first game, scoring four two-out runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 7-2 victory.Eric Karros would have been the hero for LA in Game 2, after he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI, but a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth helped pace the Reds to a 5-4 win.When the series returned to Cincinnati, the Reds shut the door in style, with a Mark Lewis grand slam in the bottom of the sixth helping pace the Reds to a 10-1 Game 3 victory, cementing their sweep.That series remains the last time the Reds won a playoff series.Reds Playoff History This year marks the 17th time in franchise history the Reds have made the postseason field.2025 also marks just the fifth playoff appearance for Cincinnati since the turn of the millennium, with other appearances coming in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2020.None of those appearances resulted in a series win.In total, the Reds have qualified for the playoffs in these years (bold indicates World Series champions, italics indicates National League pennant):19191939194019611970197219731975197619791990199520102012201320202025Reds Wild Card HistoryIntroduced by Major League Baseball in 2012, this year will mark the third-straight Wild Card round appearance by the Reds as a playoff team.In 2013, the second year of it’s existence, the Reds played a winner-take-all Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.The Pirates jumped on Reds starter Johnny Cueto early, tagging him for two runs in the second, one in the third and another in the fourth as the Pirates jumped out to a 5-1 lead just before the halfway point.The only run for the Reds at that point came on a Jay Bruce RBI single, which scored Sin-Soo Choo, who led the top of the fourth inning off by being hit by a pitch.Pittsburgh added to their lead, making it 6-1, in the bottom of the seventh, and a Choo home run in the top of the eighth proved too little, too late as Reds pitching allowed a total of 14 hits in the four-run loss.Cincinnati’s most recent playoff appearance, 2020, also saw them play in the Wild Card round. Though, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, every playoff team played in the Wild Card round.The Reds traveled to Atlanta for the series, which started with the ultimate pitchers duel.Led by Trevor Bauer, the Reds struck out Atlanta hitters 21 times, but Cincinnati’s offense couldn’t give the pitching the support it needed.Instead, it was a 13th-inning RBI single that propelled Atlanta to an early series lead, despite outhitting the Braves, 11-6.In Game 2, the Reds offense went even quieter, mustering just two hits and getting blanked, 5-0.

LOS ANGELES —

For the first time since the 2020 season, the Cincinnati Reds are playoff bound!

Despite dropping the regular-season finale against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds were able to clinch the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League, thanks to a 4-0 win by the Miami Marlins over the New York Mets.

The Reds and Mets entered Sunday with identical 83-78 records, but Cincinnati owned the head-to-head tiebreaker, winning four of the six games the two teams played.

Cincinnati now prepares for a best-of-three Wild Card series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending World Series champions.

Before the first pitch flies on Tuesday night, here’s everything you need to know as the Reds embark on their first postseason run in five seasons.

Series Schedule

The entirety of the Wild Card series will be played in Los Angeles, with the team who wins two games first advancing to the NLDS.

Here’s when each game will be played:

Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30: 9:08 p.m.Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1: 9:08 p.m.Game 3*: Thursday, Oct. 2: 9:08 p.m.

Game 3 will only be played if the first two games are split. The time Game 3 is played also could change, based on the outcomes of the other series.

ESPN is slated to broadcast all three games.

Season Series

Cincinnati and Los Angeles met six times this year, three times each at Great American Ball Park and Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers got the better of the Reds this year, winning five of the six games played between the two clubs. Cincinnati’s only win came on July 30, when Spencer Steer laced a two-run double in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and help lead the Reds to a 5-4 win.

Cincinnati Reds results vs. Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 regular season

7/28: L, 5-27/29: L, 5-47/30: W, 5-28/25: L, 7-08/26: L, 6-38/27: L, 5-1

In total, Los Angeles’ offense has doubled the Reds output in head-to-head matchups this year, 30-15.

All six meetings between the two teams came after the All-Star break.

How They Stack Up

If the Reds want to provide the postseason with a major early upset, it’ll be via Cincinnati’s pitching.

Both the Dodgers (third) and Reds(fourth) are in the top five in the National League in batting average against, with the opposition hitting just .232 against LA’s arms and just .233 against Cincinnati’s.

The two clubs are also next to each other in staff ERA, with the Reds (3.86) ranking seventh in the NL and the Dodgers (3.95) right behind them at eighth.

The biggest discrepancy in the matchup is on offense.

Boasting one of the lineups in the game, the Dodgers finished the regular season third in batting average (.253) and first in slugging (.441) and OPS (.768), all while leading the NL in runs scored (825) and home runs (244).

Here’s how Cincinnati finished in those categories, respectively:

Batting average: .245 (11th)Slugging percentage: .391 (9th)OPS: .706 (10th)Runs scored: 716 (8th)Home runs: 167 (8th)

The top-end of the Reds rotation is going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in keeping the Dodgers potent offense at bay, giving Cincinnati’s bats a chance.

Playoff History

Despite the historic nature of both franchises, this year will mark just the second time the Reds and Dodgers meet beyond the regular season.

That meeting came in 1995, when the Reds swept the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Opening in Los Angeles, Cincinnati jumped all over the Dodgers in the series’ first game, scoring four two-out runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 7-2 victory.

Eric Karros would have been the hero for LA in Game 2, after he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI, but a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth helped pace the Reds to a 5-4 win.

When the series returned to Cincinnati, the Reds shut the door in style, with a Mark Lewis grand slam in the bottom of the sixth helping pace the Reds to a 10-1 Game 3 victory, cementing their sweep.

That series remains the last time the Reds won a playoff series.

Reds Playoff History

This year marks the 17th time in franchise history the Reds have made the postseason field.

2025 also marks just the fifth playoff appearance for Cincinnati since the turn of the millennium, with other appearances coming in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2020.

None of those appearances resulted in a series win.

In total, the Reds have qualified for the playoffs in these years (bold indicates World Series champions, italics indicates National League pennant):

19191939194019611970197219731975197619791990199520102012201320202025Reds Wild Card History

Introduced by Major League Baseball in 2012, this year will mark the third-straight Wild Card round appearance by the Reds as a playoff team.

In 2013, the second year of it’s existence, the Reds played a winner-take-all Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates jumped on Reds starter Johnny Cueto early, tagging him for two runs in the second, one in the third and another in the fourth as the Pirates jumped out to a 5-1 lead just before the halfway point.

The only run for the Reds at that point came on a Jay Bruce RBI single, which scored Sin-Soo Choo, who led the top of the fourth inning off by being hit by a pitch.

Pittsburgh added to their lead, making it 6-1, in the bottom of the seventh, and a Choo home run in the top of the eighth proved too little, too late as Reds pitching allowed a total of 14 hits in the four-run loss.

Cincinnati’s most recent playoff appearance, 2020, also saw them play in the Wild Card round. Though, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, every playoff team played in the Wild Card round.

The Reds traveled to Atlanta for the series, which started with the ultimate pitchers duel.

Led by Trevor Bauer, the Reds struck out Atlanta hitters 21 times, but Cincinnati’s offense couldn’t give the pitching the support it needed.

Instead, it was a 13th-inning RBI single that propelled Atlanta to an early series lead, despite outhitting the Braves, 11-6.

In Game 2, the Reds offense went even quieter, mustering just two hits and getting blanked, 5-0.