Thanks to the expanded playoffs, the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in the middle of the postseason picture nearly a third of the way through the 60-game season.

They blew a 5-1 lead Tuesday but still managed to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 in 10 innings thanks to a walk-off double by Joey Votto. The Reds improved to 8-9 with their third victory in four games. They play the Royals again at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday in the finale of the two-game series.

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“It’s never easy,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It’s what’s great about this game. Every now and then it’s nice to get an easier one, but it’s tough. It takes a lot of toughness to play this game and be a good team. We just keep going. If you don’t make a play or don’t come through with an at-bat, that’s the game. What makes you a great team is staying with it. I thought our team showed a lot of toughness tonight.”

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