Cincinnati Reds fans waited 12 years to see their beloved franchise compete in the MLB playoffs. They waited even longer than that to see the team score a run in the postseason. Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series ended in a 10-5 Cincy loss — the Los Angeles Dodgers pounced on Hunter Greene and demolished the bullpen — but the scrappy squad did end an embarrassing drought.
Two-time All-Star Elly De La Cruz grounded into a fielder's choice to bring home Austin Hays in the top of the seventh inning. The Reds made it an 8-1 game, scoring for the first time in 29 playoff innings, per SportsNet LA's David Vassegh. One excruciating streak is over, but Cincinnati must now figure out how to win its first postseason series since besting the Dodgers in the 1995 NL divisional round.
Needless to say, the team faces a tall order. The Reds' offensive limitations are difficult to overlook. They ranked in MLB's bottom half in slugging, OPS, batting average, home runs and doubles during the regular season. No player who logged at least 50 games posted a 110-plus OPS, and former Dodgers utility man Gavin Lux led the club in batting average at just .269. Yikes.
Will the Reds beat the odds?
Cincinnati squeezed its way into the postseason party despite a feeble lineup, in large part due to difference-making pitchers like Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Emilio Pagan and Tony Santillan. This group needs to set the tone on the mound, and that is fairly tough to do when facing a fierce Dodgers lineup that features Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy, among others (Will Smith did not play in Game 1).
LA's top three batters all recorded two hits each, and Ohtani smashed two home runs in the home victory. Hernandez hit two long balls himself and posted a game-high four RBIs. The Reds are probably not going to out-slug this juggernaut. They must silence the Dodgers' bats and figure out a way to manufacture enough offense, otherwise their October dreams will be bitterly short.
Game 2 is at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.
