Cincinnati Reds Edge Brewers Behind Dominant Pitching Performance

CINCINNATI -- This Reds team deserves a lot of credit for their resilience. How many times this season did we think this season was over? The amount of gut-punching losses, and now somehow the Reds have the opportunity to clinch a Postseason berth Saturday? That's almost kind of hard to fathom.

Friday night, the Reds fell behind 1-0. At times this season, that small deficit felt like it was too much to overcome. But not this time, and not this time against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Reds rallied for a 3-1 win, moving them to 82-78. This guarantees the Reds their fourth winning season in their last six seasons. More importantly, the Reds now control their own playoff destiny with two games to go.

The Reds bullpen was spectacular Friday night, hurling 4 1/3 shutout innings with no runs, no hits, one walk and six strikeouts.

Connor Phillips was the winning pitcher, and he's no 5-0 this season. Talk about a bounce-back season. It's part of this team's resilience.

Emilio Pagan's 31st save is another surprise part of this team. Who would have thought he'd be this team's closer. Pagan has played a vital role on this team and will over the next two games.

Scoring Summary

Bottom 3rd
MIL: Brice Turang RBI single (Brewers lead 1-0)

Top 4th
CIN: Spencer Steer RBI single (Tied 1-1)

Top 6th
CIN: Miguel Andujar RBI single (Reds lead 2-1)
CIN: Tyler Stephenson RBI sacrafice fly (Reds lead 3-1)

Updating the National League Wild Card Standings

The New York Mets lost 6-2 to the Miami Marlins earlier Friday night. That means the Reds, at 82-78, are now tied with the Mets for the third National League WIld Card. Because the Reds own the tiebreaker ovet the Mets, they can clinch the third National League Wild Card with a win and Mets loss Saturday night.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were leading the San Diego Padres 2-0 in the bottom of the third at the time this story was published.

On Deck

Saturday night could be a memorable night for the Reds. They can clinch a Postseason berth with a win and a Mets loss. The Mets actually play before the Reds at 4:10 E.T., while the Reds will play the Brewers at 7:10 E.T..

The game will be nationally televised on FOX. Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott (9-7, 2.80 ERA) will start against Brewers left-hander Robert Gasser (0-1, 6.00 ERA).

The Reds have one of their best starters on the mound in a game where they could win and punch their ticket to the Postseason. This is what it's all about. It's time for this franchise to take that step they've come so close to taking for so long.

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