Cincinnati Reds Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With Thrilling 2-1 Win Over Pirates

CINCINNATI -- Leading 2-1 in the top of the ninth, Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds lifted a fly ball to right field that looked like it could have gone over the wall to tie the game.

Reds right fielder Noelvi Marte drifted back and leaped at the wall, the ball finding his glove for the second out of the inning and not the second Pirates run that would have tied the game.

The Reds hung on and won 2-1 to win the final game of the series and their final home game of the 2025 season.

Cincinnati is now 81-78 with three games remaining. They now trail the New York Mets by a half game in the race for the final National League Wild Card playoff spot. The Mets play the Cubs on Thursday night.

Here are our postgame takeaways:

Nick Lodolo Delivers Superb Outing

Superb probably doesn't even come close to describing Nick Lodolo's outing on Thursday afternoon. If he hadn't left with team trainers in the top of the seventh, who knows what Lodolo's stat line would have looked like.

Lodolo struck out 12 Pirates hitters against just one walk in 6 1/3 innings. He threw 81 pitches, with 56 of them for strikes.

The Reds left-hander allowed just two hits in a shutout effort Thursday afternoon.

Notes And Observations

The Reds finished 45-36 at Great American Ball Park.
Cincinnati is 7-3 in its last 10 games.
Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagan combined to allow one hit and no walks after Lodolo left the game.
TJ Friedl, Gavin Lux and Miguel Andujar each had two hits Thursday afternoon.
Only two Pirates hitters in the starting lineup had a hit Thursday afternoon.

Scoring Summary

Bottom 5th
CIN: Noelvi Marte RBI single (Reds lead 1-0)
CIN: Gavin Lux RBI single (Reds lead 2-0)

Top 8th
PIT: Nick Yorke RBI groundout (Reds lead 2-1)

Updating National League Wild Card Race

Reds Mets — Cincinnati Reds third baseman Noelvi Marte (16) reacts to hitting a base hit in the sixth inning between Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Sept. 7, 2025. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The New York Mets play at the Chicago Cubs later Thursday night. First pitch of that game is at 7:40 E.T. MLB Network will televise that game in the Cincinnati market.

As of this writing, the Arizona Diamondbacks trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 in the bottom of the third.

On Deck

The Reds will head to Milwaukee for their final series of the regular season against the Brewers.

Milwaukee enters this weekend at 96-63, having already clinched the National League Central division. They are still competing for the No. 1 seed in the National League.

Right-hander Zack Littell (10-8, 3.86 ERA), left-hander Andrew Abbott (9-7, 2.80 ERA), and right-hander Brady Singer (14-10, 3.86 ERA) will start on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The Brewers have not named starters for Saturday and Sunday. They are going with right-hander Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25 ERA) on Friday.

Friday's game starts at 8:10 E.T., Saturday's is at 7:15 E.T., and Sunday's is at 3:10 E.T. Friday's and Sunday's games will be on FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati, while Saturday's will be a nationally televised game on FOX.