With a four-game winning streak under their belts, the Cincinnati Reds have leapfrogged the Padres for the second wild card spot in the National League, and now lead San Diego by a game.

This recent development may come as a shock to some, but the thing is, the Reds have been playing solid baseball for a while now. Since the beginning of June, the Reds are 45-29, just cruising along with arguably the National League's best offense, closing the gap in the wild card race until finally making their move.

That offense is certainly one of the main reasons Cincinnati is currently looking down at the rest of the NL, including a Padres team that gets far more attention in the media. The lineup is anchored by MVP candidate Nick Castellanos, who is hitting a robust .319/.377/.568 with 22 home runs, 70 RBIs and a 146 wRC+ in a comeback year. But even while Castellano was sidelined in mid-July with a wrist injury, the Reds didn't miss a beat, thanks in large part to Joey Votto's recent tear at the plate, in which he nearly tied the record for most consecutive games with a home run.

But it's the entire Cincinnati Reds offense that is giving the league fits. Jesse Winker was hitting .307/.395/.560 with 24 home runs before landing on the IL with a rib strain that could keep him sidelined until September. Rookie second baseman Jonathan India has fit right in with a .276/.387/.462 line with 16 home runs, 22 doubles and a 129 wRC+. Tyler Stephenson, their 24-year-old catcher/first baseman, is hitting .290/.375/.454 with nine home runs in 269 at-bats. And Tyler Naquin, who the Reds signed away from Cleveland in the offseason, has been a fantastic (and cheap) pickup, as he's hitting .268/.333/.482 with 18 home runs.

The offense is never going to be a problem for the Reds. The only thing that will stop Cincinnati's march to the postseason will be its pitching staff – specifically the bullpen. And as things get down to the wire, the Reds will never be able to afford any games in which the bullpen blows it.

Their 5.18 bullpen ERA is the fourth-worst in all of baseball, ahead of teams like the Orioles, Diamondbacks, and Rockies. Two of those teams are going to blow right through a hundred losses this season, so the Reds are really walking a tightrope every night. The Reds did try to address the bullpen at the trade deadline, acquiring 31-year-old Mychal Givens from Colorado. Givens has been solid in ten appearances for the Reds, with a 1.86 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work.

The Reds also acquired left-handers Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson from the Yankees. Cessa is having his best season to date, with a 2.68 ERA between New York and Cincinnati. And though Wilson struggled with the Yankees this season, he has a 2.25 ERA in eight innings of work with the Cincinnati Reds so far.

So while the Reds bullpen has been improved, Cincinnati will rely heavily on its starters, who sport a 3.91 ERA, sixth-best in the NL. Rookie Vladimir Gutierrez has a 3.68 ERA through sixteen starts, while Wade Miley, who threw a no-hitter in May, is having one of the best seasons of his career, with a 2.88 ERA and 165 ERA+. Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo fill out the rest of a rotation that features all five starters with an ERA+ better than 100, which means this is a deep, dependable group. Castillo has had a violently up-and-down season, starting the year off with a 7.22 ERA through May. But he's pitched much better since, with a 2.73 ERA since the beginning of June, and could very well be one of the biggest pieces of the Reds' success down the stretch.

The Cincinnati Reds remain 7.5 games out of first place in the NL Central, but they begin a crucial three-game series against the division-leading Brewers Tuesday night, which could help them close the gap. Milwaukee has possibly the best pitching staff in the Majors, so it's that classic matchup of great pitching meeting great hitting; a possible preview of the playoffs to be sure.

But even if the division stays out of reach, the Reds are firmly in the NL wild card race as the baseball season enters its final month. Cincinnati certainly doesn't get the headlines of some of the other wild card contenders, but the Cincinnati Reds are a solid team that could really do some damage in the playoffs.

They just have to get there first.