CHICAGO – Any last hopes of the Cincinnati Reds had of making the playoffs ended at 10:40 p.m. Tuesday when the St. Louis Cardinals won their franchise-record 17th consecutive game.
The Reds entered Tuesday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox with an elimination number of 1, meaning they needed to win their final five regular-season games and they needed the Cardinals to lose their final six games to force a Game 163 tiebreaker.
St. Louis hasn’t lost a game since a 6-4 win against the Reds on Sept. 11, sweeping series against the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. The Reds were tied with the Padres for the second wild-card spot on Sept. 11 and were eliminated 17 days later.
It was a September collapse for the Reds, who dropped eight consecutive series and went nearly three weeks without winning back-to-back games.
The Reds haven’t made the postseason in a full season since 2013 and they haven’t won a playoff series since 1995. The Reds earned a playoff spot in last year’s 60-game season, which included an expanded playoff field, but they were swept in the Wild Card Series by the Atlanta Braves without scoring a run for 22 innings.
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