McCoy: Reds move into third NL Wild Card spot with 4-game sweep of Cubs

The Reds are alive and kicking like the Wild Horse of the Osage.

With another 1-0 win Sunday afternoon in Great American Ball Park and a loss by the New York Mets, the Reds and Mets are in a dead heat for that third position.

It completed a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs, a team seemingly playing with a lack of interest since clinching their playoff spot.

Gavin Lux delivered a run-scoring double in the third inning for the game’s only run and the Reds bullpen did it again.

Reds starter Andrew Abbott struggled, but escaped problems in the third and fourth innings. The Cubs put their first two on in the third and Abbott induced three pop flies.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

He put two on with one out in the fourth and coaxed two more pop-ups.

When he gave up a two-out single to Ian Happ in the fifth, manager Tito Francona went to the man Abbott calls, “Our Swiss Army knife.”

That would be swing man Martinez, who bounces back-and-forth between the rotation and the bullpen with a broad smile.

He retired Carson Kelly on a pop foul and then pitched two more perfect innings.

Pressure? What’s that?

“I love it. I want it,” Martinez told reporters after the game. “It’s good energy to feed off of and I’m able to channel those nerves in the right way.”

The Reds, probably playing their best baseball of the season, have matched their best winning streak of the year with five and have won six of seven.

“Good time to do it,” said Martinez. “This last month-and-a-half there have been ups and downs, but we’re hard to kill when we play our style.”

Nothing puts a smile more on Francona’s face than to see Martinez on the mound.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

“His willingness to do whatever with a smile on his face,” said Francona. “I know he’s loving it and that’s a good feeling.

“He set the tone by coming in and giving us two-and-a-third and gets that big out in the fifth,” he said.

“He is special in a lot of ways,” Francona added. “His level of competitiveness, being a teammate and he’s a good pitcher.”

With one out in the third, Matt McLain doubled off the wall in the left field corner. With two outs, Lux, batting second in Francona’s daily mix-and-match lineup and batting order, doubled to right.

And it was all the Reds could get off Cubs’ starter Jameson Taillon, who held the Reds to one run and five hits over seven innings.

“That was a big moment in the game and we’re a momentum offense,” Lux told reporters. “I was just trying to move the ball forward and hit it hard. Matt did a great job smoking that ball off the wall.

“I was just trying to get a big hit for the guys in the dugout and keep it rolling,” he added.

“This is exciting, this is what we play for all year and what we talked about in spring training,” he added. “Playing these meaningful games at the end of the year, you’re not worried about yourself, you’re worried about how can I help the team win.”

On September 6, the Reds trailed the Mets by six games, but now not only are they tied with them, if they finished in a tie, the Reds hold the tie-breaker via winning the season series against them.

“There is no give in this group,” said Lux. “We keep fighting. Every time we get kicked down we get back up and we answer. That’s been our M.O. all year. It just shows how resilient this group is.”

After Martinez retired seven straight, Graham Ashcraft gave up a two-out single in the eighth but retired Carson Kelly on a pop-up. Ashcraft also pitched a scoreless inning Saturday when the Reds led by one run.

“Ashcraft’s last two outings have been probably the best he’s thrown the ball in a while, so that’s good,” said Francona.

“There was no wiggle room and the bullpen could have given up just one, but they didn’t.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Tony Santillan pitched the ninth and put some hearts in some mouths. He was making his 77th appearance of the year and his third assignment in three days.

And he walked the first batter. He retired the next two and then walked another, putting the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first.

He struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong to end it.

“I was mad at myself for walking that first guy,” said Santillan. “I said to myself, ‘What am I doing?’ I focused and slowed things down, try myself, and good things will happen.”

His teammates are most appreciative of Santillan’s work ethic and his results in high-leverage dilemmas.

“I call him El Toro, the bull,” Lux told reporters. “He takes the ball every day, it feels like. He’s probably a little banged up, I’m sure. He doesn’t complain, he just goes out there and competes. He’s been a big factor all year and you feel really good when he has the ball in his hands.”

The Reds are off Monday before opening a three-game series Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates — the lowly Pirates who have lost five in a row before winning their last two over the Athletics, Sunday by 11-0. And the Pirates always give the Reds trouble.

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