The Cincinnati Reds offense didn’t do much on Sunday, but they did just enough thanks to outstanding pitching to pick up a 1-0 win over Chicago as they swept the Cubs in a 4-game series. The win combined with a loss by the New York Mets brings the two teams to a tie for the final wild card spot in the National League as the regular season heads to the final week.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs (88-68) | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (80-76) | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Martinez (11-13) L: Taillon (10-7) SV: Santillan (7) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The game was relatively quiet until the top of the 3rd inning. That’s when the Cubs got back-to-back singles to begin the inning, but Andrew Abbott was able to work out of the jam and keep the game scoreless. The bottom of the inning saw the Reds come through with the first run of the game, getting doubles from Matt McLain and Gavin Lux to put Cincinnati up 1-0.
Andrew Abbott threw a shutout 4th inning and came back for the 5th and needed just three pitches to get the first two outs of the frame. But Ian Happ singled to extend the inning and with right-hander Seiya Suzuki due up, manager Terry Frrancona called out to the bullpen to bring in Nick Martinez to get a righty-on-righty match up.
The move worked out as Martinez struck Suzuki out to end the inning and strand the runner. He would then throw two more perfect innings after that, sending the game to the 8th inning with the Reds still holding onto a 1-run lead. Graham Ashcraft took over from there and worked around a bloop single to hold the lead.
After Cincinnati went in order in the bottom of the 8th inning the Reds called to the bullpen to bring in Tony Santillan to try and close out the game. The inning didn’t get out to a great start as Santillan walked Moises Ballesteros on five pitches. He’d rebound from there to get a lazy fly out off of the bat of Dansby Swanson. Chicago then went to the bench to bring in Willi Castro to pinch hit for Justin Turner. Ashcraft would strike Castro out, but walked Michael Busch to push the tying run to second and the go-ahead run to first.
That resulted in a mound visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson as Pete Crow-Armstrong was heading to the plate. Santillan would strike him out looking to end the game and help the Reds complete a 4-game sweep of the Cubs.
Key Moment of the Game
Tony Santillan striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong to strand the tying and go-ahead runs to end the game.
Notes Worth Noting
The New York Mets lost and if the Reds make the playoffs over them by a game or by virtue of a tie then they owe Jacob Young whatever he asks them for as the Nationals outfielder made two incredible catches in the game. With the win, the Reds now control their own destiny to the playoffs with six games left to play.
The game on Saturday against Milwaukee has a new start time. FOX used their option to select the game as the national game of the week. That pushes the scheduled start time to 7:15pm.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday September 23rd, 6:40pm ET
Johan Oviedo (2-0, 3.52 ERA) vs Brady Singer (14-10, 3.86 ERA)
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