Cincinnati Reds battle Washington Nationals for Wild Card positioning

After splitting a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds visit the nation’s capital for a series with Wild Card implications on the line.

Ladies and gentleman, your Cincinnati Reds (56-60) have positioned themselves right in the middle of the playoff hunt.  Entering play on Monday, the Reds are just five games back in the Wild Card race with plenty of games remaining against those in front of them in the standings.

Just how did the Reds climb back into contention? It starts with an offense that has been lighting up the scoreboard, as well as a starting rotation that has provided excellent outings on a nearly nightly basis. Over their past 12 games entering play on Sunday, the Redlegs are slashing .290/.354/.512 and are averaging 5.8 runs a contest over that stretch.

In those 12 games, the Reds have blasted a whopping 23 home runs and 21 doubles. While “The Punisher”, Aristides Aquino, has been rightfully receiving many of the headlines, Eugenio Suárez, José Iglesias, Tucker Barnhart and Joey Votto have also hit at least three round trippers over that span.

The Reds rotation has been fantastic over the past 12 games as well. Beginning play Sunday, the rotation has fanned 69 against 21 free passes. The trio of Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Trevor Bauer dominated the Cubs over the weekend. Tossing 19.2 innings, the Reds three-headed monster allowed just 4 runs on 12 hits, while compiling 26 strikeouts.

It’s that type of production, both offensively and pitching wise, that has led to six victories in their past 10 games. That type of balance has eluded the Reds all season. Through much of the first four months of the season, Cincinnati had to rely heavily on their pitching staff, however, if they continue to receive this type of support from the offense, the sky’s the limit.