The Reds’ season ended with an 8-4 loss to the Dodgers after an eighth inning rally from Cincinnati came up short.
“You look at this as a pro-con scenario,” Reds center fielder TJ Friedl said. “Ultimately, we felt short of what we wanted to do. At the same time, that was a lot of our first popping champagne and celebrating anything at this level.”
In Game 2, Zack Littell had a short start and only lasted 3 ⅓ innings before manager Terry Francona went to the bullpen. The Dodgers’ lineup kept adding on. The Reds had their chance against a shaky Los Angeles bullpen, but strikeouts from Will Benson and Friedl ended the Reds’ rally in eighth.
“It’s hard to know what to take away right now because it’s so fresh and raw,” Francona said. “Everybody’s hurting. Only one team can go home at the end on their own terms, and it’s not us this year. The season doesn’t just wind down. It just comes to a crashing halt. And that’s kind of hard sometimes to make your peace with. I thought our group from day one was a special group. We did not accomplish what we set out to do. That takes away nothing from what me and the coaches feel about those guys.”
Francona says that the Reds aren’t the finished product. The team’s young players still have room to grow on defense, on the bases and as situational hitters.
The talent on the Reds’ roster helped keep the Reds in both games in this three-game series, despite a short start by Hunter Greene in the series opener.
“(The team) competed like crazy, and that’s what we asked them to do,” Francona said. “When things didn’t look very good, they kept competing -- even the last couple of nights. We’re kind of getting our (tails) handed to us, but they keep going. That’s a good trait.”
This was the first taste of the postseason for players like Friedl, Tyler Stephenson, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz. Before this year, no Reds player had appeared in a postseason game with the Reds.
Friedl hopes the Reds can learn from this experience going forward.
“The young core isn’t young anymore,” Friedl said. “The young core was 2023. Last year was a learning year for a lot of us and we fell short last year heavily. This year, to bounce back and compete from Game 1 to Game 162 and get into the playoffs, we learned a lot. I anticipate — I can speak for myself and hope I can speak for everyone in this clubhouse — that we’re going to build and continue to build on that.”
This week, the Dodgers’ stars shined very bright. Former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and 2025 Cy Young Award contender Yoshinobu Yamamoto were terrific. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts lived up to their billing as two of the best hitters in MLB.
Even though two of the Reds’ best players in Greene and Elly De La Cruz struggled in the series, the Reds stayed in it.
“We thought we had a chance,” starting pitcher Nick Lodolo said. “We have to play better. The good thing is now we know what to expect. We need to take another step.”
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