At some point over the last five weeks, the Cincinnati Reds turned a hot streak into an expectation.
The offense is scoring more than five runs a game since the All-Star break. Starting pitching has stabilized. The bullpen looks a bit different after trades and relievers returning from the injured list.
The Reds completed their four-game sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday with a 3-2 victory at Great American Ball Park and they made it look easy. That’s what good teams do against teams in the cellar, but the Reds have the National League’s best record since the start of July.
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Winning 10 of their last 12 games, the Reds have things falling into place. They’re within 2.5 games of a playoff spot, providing pressure on the San Diego Padres in the wild-card race. Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas returned to the lineup this weekend. Lucas Sims is back in the bullpen.
The offense, which has averaged more than seven runs over the past two weeks, finally had a quiet afternoon. Tyler Mahle was there to pick up his hitters, completing seven innings to match a career-high while striking out 10.
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Mahle permitted two runs on six hits and zero walks Sunday. One run scored on an infield single. Another came in the sixth inning when he surrendered a solo homer to Ke’Bryan Hayes with a two-run lead. Michael Lorenzen and Mychal Givens pitched the final two innings to seal the sweep.
The Reds have won 13 of their last 14 games against the Pirates, dating back to last season, and they’ve won 12 consecutive home games against them. It’s the Reds’ longest home winning streak against Pittsburgh since an 18-game winning streak at Crosley Field in 1939-40.
It’s been complete domination. The Reds never trailed at the end of an inning throughout the four-game weekend series. They’ve outscored the Pirates, 82-26, this season.
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Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning after Bryan Reynolds hit a one-out double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Anthony Alford hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield and third baseman Eugenio Suárez was overaggressive as he slid to his left. The ball deflected off Suárez’s glove, with shortstop Kyle Farmer behind him, and allowed Reynolds to score when it trickled into the outfield.
The Reds, as they’ve done all weekend, responded quickly. Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos hit back-to-back doubles, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Joey Votto nearly homered on a ball off the wall in right-center, though it turned into a long RBI single.
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Tyler Stephenson put the Reds ahead with an RBI on a fielder’s choice ground ball and Kyle Farmer added an RBI double to center.
Mahle took it from there. He struck out every Pirates hitter except Gregory Polanco with an excellent mix of fastballs and splitters.
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