Facing a Cardinals club trying to clinch a Wild Card spot, the Reds took a 3-1 win on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium that kept them alive for the top seed in the National League postseason heading into Game 162.
“There was a lot of energy for sure,” said right fielder Jay Bruce, who hit an RBI single in the sixth inning for the go-ahead run. “I think this is a good series for us to play going into the playoffs. These guys are good, they play us tough and have a great team. It’s a big series for them, and it’s a big series for us because we still have some things hinging on the outcome of this series.”
A Nationals win against the Phillies brought their magic number to take the top seed to one. Since Washington owns the tiebreaker based on head-to-head matchups with Cincinnati, it only needs to win its afternoon game to claim the best record in baseball and the No. 1 seed.
If the Reds end up with the No. 2 seed, they would open the NL Division Series at No. 3 San Francisco on Saturday. As the top seed, they would face the winner of the Wild Card game on Sunday. So the Reds will wait another day to learn their opponent.
“It’s better than not waiting at all,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
Regardless of the opponent, Cincinnati was encouraged by what it saw at the conclusion of the game. Closer Aroldis Chapman not only looked great retiring the side in order in the ninth for his 38th save, he was dealing the Cardinals some serious gas.
“That was the best that we’ve seen Chapman since he was back,” Baker said.
Chapman, who missed 10 days in mid-September with left shoulder fatigue and didn’t look good his previous time out, threw 13 of his 16 pitches at 100 mph or better. The left-hander reached 102 mph six times.
“Since the return to pitching, today has been the best day — not just physically, but on the mound. I felt really good on the mound tonight,” Chapman said through an interpreter.
During his entire inning, the 39,644 fans were on their feet making lots of noise to will the Cardinals to a comeback win. It was the epitome of a playoff atmosphere as the two teams have split the first two games of the series heading toward Wednesday’s conclusion.
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