The Cincinnati Reds know they face a tough road to potentially get into the playoffs. They sit six games behind Arizona in the National League wild-card race, as the Diamondbacks hold the final spot, with five other teams between them.
But with three straight wins and five in seven games since the All-Star break, the Reds want to keep the good times rolling Saturday night in the second game of three contests against the host St. Louis Cardinals.
Cincinnati won 4-2 in the series opener on Friday, with Eugenio Suarez delivering a two-run home run in the seventh inning to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 advantage.
The Reds added an insurance run in the ninth.
“We want to win as many games as possible and see what kind of situation we can put ourselves in by the deadline,” said closer Emilio Pagan, who tossed a perfect ninth to earn the save. “From there, go on a run. We’re behind the eight-ball, but we also know what we can do if we play the game the right way.”
It’s the Reds’ first three-game winning streak since May 23-26, part of a run that saw the club emerge victorious five times in a seven-game stretch.
The hill to climb into playoff contention will be tough, but the Reds will have a chance to help control their destiny thanks to their schedule. Series against the Diamondbacks and each of the five teams in between them in the playoff race, including a five-gamer against the Cardinals, are on tap over the final two months of the season.
St. Louis trails Arizona by 2 1/2 games in the wild-card chase.
“Anything can happen in baseball, so we’ve just got to continue to show up, keep doing what we’re doing, and who knows what can happen?” Reds left-fielder JJ Bleday said. “We put ourselves in a good spot. … We’re playing some good baseball.”
Right-hander Hunter Greene (2-1, 6.06 ERA) will start for Cincinnati on Saturday. He is 2-4 with a 3.23 ERA in nine career starts against St. Louis.
The Cardinals head into the middle contest of the series looking to get their bats going. On Friday, they didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning when, with Ivan Herrera (hit by pitch) and Nathan Church (walk) on, Blaze Jordan doubled to put his team ahead 2-1.
St. Louis would manage just one other hit the rest of the way — another double, from Jimmy Crooks in the eighth.
“We have to get back to just taking some really tough at-bats,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Regardless of the result, just the style of the at-bat. We haven’t done that as of late, and it’s led to the score being what it is at the end of nine. So we need to get back to that quicker.”
The Cardinals have lost seven of their past nine games.
They got a solid outing from starter Dustin May on Friday, with May striking out eight while giving up just one run on seven hits. St. Louis will hope for more of the same from right-hander Andre Pallante (10-6, 4.02 ERA) on Saturday.
Pallante has fared well against the Reds in his career, going 7-4 with a 2.41 ERA in 20 career appearances (10 starts), including 52 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
