CINCINNATI -- How the Reds look at their chances for the rest of the 2019 season could almost be summed up from the contents of their big 8-6 victory over the first-place Cubs on Sunday at Great American Ball Park.
Starting pitching from Anthony DeSclafani was superb. The bullpen may have bent, but it didn¡¯t break. The lineup took an early lead for DeSclafani on Eugenio Suárez's booming 457-foot three-run homer to the Pilot House boat above the center-field batter¡¯s eye in the first inning and was able to add on key runs late.
"It says a lot,¡± Reds manager David Bell said. ¡°I'm really happy with the way the game went today. It could have gone either way. I think it shows a lot about our team and how they play as a team and the toughness that was shown there -- not only by the staff, but those big at-bats. It showed a lot of toughness. That's what it took today."
Sitting fifth in the National League Central standings, the Reds reached the 81-game halfway point with a 38-43 record. By taking two of three from the Cubs (45-39), they are 5 1/2 games out of first place. Next up are four games vs. the Brewers, who moved into a tie at the top of the division with a win over the Pirates. Cincinnati split a four-game series in Milwaukee last weekend.
All of the other last-place teams in the Major Leagues are way, way back by double-digit games.
¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like we¡¯re in fifth,¡± said Reds rookie center fielder Nick Senzel, who hit an important two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning to put the game away. ¡°It¡¯s pretty tight in our division. Some teams haven¡¯t been playing as well as of late. This is a good time to cover some ground in the standings.¡±
With a 3.69 ERA, Cincinnati¡¯s pitching staff is ranked second in the NL and third in the Majors. The club has a plus-39 run differential -- joining the Cubs as the only two teams in the division with a positive number. The Reds are the only sub-.500 team with a positive run differential.
The team could have a better record had it not been for 16 one-run losses. That¡¯s one area to fix as the offense ranks 14 out of 15 NL teams with a .236 average.
¡°We all feel like we can win,¡± said DeSclafani, who pitched six scoreless innings with 73 pitches for the victory. ¡°We¡¯re a last-place team, but we¡¯re in this thing. This division is so tight and we¡¯re keeping it so close. Most of these games that we lost were by one run. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a reason to be discouraged that we¡¯re in last. These little bit of games haven¡¯t gone our way early in the year, and that¡¯s why are where we¡¯re at. We feel like we¡¯re a playoff team. We just have to fight back and creep up these standings slowly.¡±
To put in perspective how far the Reds have come in one season, they were 34-47 after 81 games in 2018 -- even after having their best month of that year as a club in June. They had a minus-43 run differential and sat 13 1/2 games out of first place on their way to finishing 67-95 and 28 1/2 games back.
Last season¡¯s pitching staff owned the second-worst ERA overall at 4.63.
¡°We¡¯ve still got 3 1/2 months to go,¡± said lefty reliever Amir Garrett, who has a 1.75 ERA in a team-leading 41 appearances. ¡°We can run off 12 straight and people can go, ¡®Oh, look at the Reds.¡¯ There¡¯s no doubt in our minds, and our coaches¡¯ minds, that we can be as good as anybody. Look at what we¡¯re doing.¡±
Besides winning three series over the Cubs this season, the Reds took two of three from the American League West-leading Astros from June 17-19 during a six-game winning streak.
¡°For us, to be at Game 81, and be in the thick of a situation where we know if we do play our best baseball moving forward in the second half, we're going to be right there,¡± Bell said. ¡°That's all you can ask for as a team. Yeah, we're not where we want to be right now, we're continuing every day to find ways to get better. We're going to take that approach no matter where we are.¡±