Reds tie Mets for NL's 3rd and final wild-card spot

MILWAUKEE -- The Cincinnati Reds person enactment themselves successful presumption to gain their archetypal playoff berth since the pandemic-shortened 2020 play portion keeping the free-spending New York Mets retired of the postseason.

Cincinnati's 3-1 victory implicit the Milwaukee Brewers and New York's 6-2 loss to the Miami Marlins connected Friday enabled the Reds to necktie the Mets for the National League's 3rd and last wild-card playoff berth. The Reds ain the head-to-head tiebreaker implicit the Mets, whose $322.6 cardinal payroll astatine the commencement of the play led each MLB teams.

"Obviously I deliberation we tin commencement to consciousness it a small bit, but astatine the aforesaid time, we've got to instrumentality attraction of business," Cincinnati's Gavin Lux said. "We're not determination yet still. We've conscionable got to support trying to triumph each transportation and instrumentality it crippled by game. We each cognize however accelerated things tin change."

Cincinnati hasn't been much than 7 games supra .500 astatine immoderate constituent this play and has gone conscionable 15-18 implicit its past 33 games. Yet the Reds person inactive played good capable to drawback the Mets, who person mislaid 16 of their past 25 games.

The Mets were 45-24 and had the champion grounds successful the majors connected June 12, but they've gone 37-54 since.

"We've enactment ourselves successful this position," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters aft their Friday nighttime nonaccomplishment successful Miami. "Here we are. We've got to travel backmost time and the adjacent time now. We've got to triumph the adjacent 2 and spot what happens."

The Reds (82-78) are seeking to marque the playoffs successful a non-pandemic play for the archetypal clip since 2013. They haven't won a postseason crippled since 2012 and haven't won a playoff bid since 1995.

They yet mightiness get backmost to the postseason with assistance from guys who are accustomed to this stage.

Lux, who won World Series rings with the Los Angeles Dodgers successful 2020 and 2024, doubled doubly and scored the go-ahead tally Friday. Reds manager Terry Francona led the Boston Red Sox to a 2004 World Series title and brought Cleveland to Game 7 of the 2016 Fall Classic.

The 66-year-old Francona spent a twelvemonth distant from the crippled for wellness reasons earlier taking implicit the Reds this season.

"This is arsenic breathtaking arsenic it gets," Francona said. "To not admit that you're nervous, I deliberation that would beryllium wrong. I'm tense arsenic hell."

The Reds' way to a uncommon postseason bid means getting past their caller nemesis.

Cincinnati has mislaid each of its past 13 bid with the Brewers. Ending that streak conscionable mightiness catapult the Reds into the playoffs.

"It'd beryllium benignant of the cleanable clip to bash it," Reds reliever Tony Santillan said. "Season connected the line, bushed them, triumph against them and beforehand to the postseason by beating them. I consciousness similar it's been a while."