The Cincinnati Reds could have guaranteed themselves a spot in the playoffs with a win on Sunday, but they couldn’t get that done as they dropped the final game of the regular season 4-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers. That left the Reds playoff hopes in the hands of the Miami Marlins, who at the time of the final out in Milwaukee held a 4-0 lead over the Mets in the 8th inning. Miami held on for the win and that puts the Reds in the playoffs.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (83-79) | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Milwaukee Brewers (97-65) | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Megill (6-3) L: Singer (14-12) SV: Uribe (7) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Reds and Brewers both had run scoring opportunities in the 1st inning and both failed to come through. Elly De La Cruz didn’t need help from anyone in the 2nd inning as he led off with a home run to dead center to put Cincinnati up 1-0. Spencer Steer followed up with a double, but he was thrown out at third base on an infielder grounder as he tried to advance after the Brewers challenged the safe call and had it overturned. A strikeout would follow and the inning came to an end.
Brady Singer got himself into trouble in the 2nd by hitting a batter and giving up a 2-out single, but he struck out Christian Yelich to end the Brewers thread. When the 3rd inning started the game was over for Freddy Peralta as Milwaukee went to the bullpen. DL Hall was welcomed to the game by TJ Friedl with a home run into the Reds bullpen to make it a 2-0 game.
Milwaukee wasn’t going to just hand the game to Cincinnati. They would begin the bottom of the 3rd inning with back-to-back doubles to plate a run and cut the lead down to a run. That led to movement in the Reds bullpen, but Singer was able to get out of the inning with no further damage and kept his team up 2-1.
In the bottom of the 4th inning it was another leadoff double for Milwaukee as Isaac Collins hit one down the line in right field that bounced into the seats. Once again the Reds bullpen started to see some action. A fly out to center followed, but Collins was able to take third on the play. Danny Jansen came through with a 2-run home run to put the Brewers in the lead and run Brady Singer from the game as Nick Lodolo entered the game from the bullpen. Things didn’t go well for the lefty as he would give up a single, walk, and an RBI double as the home team extended their lead to 4-2 before Lodolo got out of the inning.
When the bottom of the 5th started it was Lodolo back on the mound. He would get a groundout to start the inning but then walked the next batter. That ended his day and Chase Burns came in out of the bullpen and struck out the next two hitters to end the frame. He returned for the 6th inning and tossed a shutout inning to keep the Brewers lead at two runs. Scott Barlow and Connor Phillips came through with hitless innings in both the 7th and 8th inning.
The Reds offense, though, couldn’t get much done in either inning. They ended the top of the 9th still trailing 4-2 and without a hit since Noelvi Marte’s single in the 3rd inning with no outs. That remained the case as Cincinnati went down in order to drop the final game of the season.
Key Moment of the Game
The bottom of the 4th inning where the Brewers scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead.
Notes Worth Noting
The Miami Marlins topped the New York Mets about 20 minutes after the Reds lost and that was all that Cincinnati needed to keep their 2025 campaign alive. With the two teams finishing in a tie at 83-79, the Reds earn the playoff spot with the tiebreaker being the head-to-head record on the season.
Reds pitchers walked six batters in the game. The Brewers only went 3-15 with runners in scoring position, while Cincinnati went 0-2.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Game 1 on the NL Wild Card Round on ESPN
Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Tuesday September 30th, 9:08pm ET
Hunter Greene vs. TBA
The post Reds clinch a playoff berth despite 4-2 loss in Milwaukee appeared first on Redleg Nation.