“It says a lot,” manager David Bell told reporters after a doubleheader sweep Wednesday. “It’s not easy playing any team on the road. Coming out to the West Coast, there are a lot of considerations there. We have to play well. It was a great series. A lot of great things happened. I don’t even know where to start.”
The Reds (67-61) trail the Milwaukee Brewers (70-57) by 3½ games in the National League Central Division. They are in stronger contention for one of the three wild cards.
If the season had ended Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs (66-60) and the Reds would receive the second and third wild cards with the first wild card going to the Philadelphia Phillies (69-58), who are 2½ games ahead.
The Reds play the next two teams in the wild-card standings as their road trip continues. They start a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (66-61) on Thursday and then start a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants (66-61) on Monday. The Diamondbacks and Giants trail the Cubs and Reds by a half game.
The Reds then return to Great American Ball Park to start a four-game series against the Cubs on Sept. 1. Those will be the last games the Reds play against any of the contending teams in the National League.
In summary, this 11-game stretch becomes the most important part of the season for the Reds, who are 3-0 against the Diamondbacks, 2-2 against the Giants and 5-4 against the Cubs.
“We talked at the beginning of this series on just focusing on what we do well,” Bell said. “I feel our players are doing a great job. We’re just focusing on taking that to another level and letting everything else work out. Easier said than done sometimes, but I thought this series we absolutely did that. A lot of great play. Guys stepping up.”
According to FanGraphs.com, of the top six teams in the wild card race, the Reds have the worst odds of making the playoffs with a 27.3% chance of winning a wild card. They have overcome the odds most of the season, though, after losing 100 games in 2022.
“Every game is important at this point in the season with the position we’re in,” second baseman Matt McLain said Wednesday. “It was good to get two wins today against a good Angels team.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Reds at Diamondbacks, 9:40 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, 700, 1410
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