Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Aim to DERAIL The Cincinnati Reds' Postseason Push

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cincinnati Red season is hanging in the balance, and here come the St. Louis Cardinals, the team in which they have very little success with here in recent memory. You are locked on MLB crossover, part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome into this edition of Lockdown MLB crossover. We are Lockdown Reds, Lockdown Cardinals. My name is Jeff Carr, one half of Lockdown Reds. J.D. Haffron from Lockdown Cardinals is joining me here.

Starting point is 00:00:35 And by recent memory, I think I am referring to the last 30 years between the Reds and the Cardinals. It's been a long spell that the Cardinals have seemed to hold sway over the Cincinnati Reds. And here they come with a really big chance to absolutely crush any hopes or dreams and thoughts of the Reds possibly catching back up to the New York Mets in the Wild Card Series. We'll give you a season prediction or a series prediction here in a little bit later on in the show. there's a couple of few key players that we need to focus on that we'll get into in just a few minutes. But we'll begin with why the Reds are in dire need of winning this. It's a must-win series. It just is.

Starting point is 00:01:17 It's a must-win series for the Cincinnati Reds. That's all coming up on this episode that is bratsy by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code, lock down MLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. And as much as the Reds knee of this series, JD, it feels like the Cardinals are a little bit poised to play spoiler here. Yeah, of course. I mean, when you face a division rival and they have a chance to do good things

Starting point is 00:01:47 and you're the person standing in the way, you want to be the reason why you fail. You know, they want to take you down. I don't care of your pirates, if you're the Cubs, if you're the Brewer, like you just want to see your toughest opponent. of the guys you see all the time. You don't want to see them do well. So if there's a chance that they can take you down and bring it down to our level, Jeff, if you will, we're most certainly going to give our best as we do each and every day as the St. Louis Cardinals. It's interesting because the fact that

Starting point is 00:02:18 the Reds have hung on in this race, and I mean, the last 10 days have been so bad for them, but the fact that they've hung on in this race for so long and now it seems like they're scuffling, it's just so frustrating because the pitching has been phenomenal, but as the pitching goes, so do the Cincinnati Reds because they just don't out hit their pitching. And that's been the big thing in out in L.A. They did not prevent the runs against the Dodgers lineup, which is hard to do at Dodgers Stadium. The Dodgers have paid something like a billion dollars for their lineup. And so they get what they paid for there. But it seemed as though the Reds were also just self-inflicted wound after self-inflicted wound on top of the fact that the Dodgers are already,

Starting point is 00:03:01 you know, kind of better on paper as it were. So now they face a Cardinals team that as we've talked about a little bit at different times this year, the Cardinals kind of feel like they're almost ready to rebuilding yet they almost have these veterans that can get them back in this. So where are you like do you hold out hope that they're ready for a run? I know that Adam Wayne Wright said that he thought so. Adam was wearing his rosy red-colored cardal glasses that day because this team is not ready to go anywhere. It is not going to make a run.

Starting point is 00:03:38 They have a lot of issues. Injuries being won. Brendan Donovan is out. Nolan Aronado has been out. Mason wins dealing with an knee injury. Victor Scott is out. You're starting a center field there. They've had some issues here at the very end, which is part of the reason.

Starting point is 00:03:54 why they've struggled, but the other side of it is they don't have starting pitching that can lead them anywhere. I mean, the fact that they have three of the worst starting pitchers in all of baseball in the same rotation and still have as many wins as they have, kind of a miracle. Like Eric Fetty, he's on his third team. He's now with the Brewers. They're going to try to fix him, I guess, too. Miles Michaelis, we know he's not very good. He gets crushed regularly. and then Andre Palante has been like a little baby Michaelist so far for them, where he nothing, like he hasn't won a game and like 15 starts or something like that. Like it's just been brutal and you just can't win that way at all.

Starting point is 00:04:34 So no, I do not foresee a run as far as trying to make the playoffs. But Hyne Bloom takes over in the offseason. We'll see if he can pull some of that magic that he had with the Tampa Bay raised as far as using veteran guys for trade pieces. to get prospects to kind of, you know, kick this thing into gear for the Cardinals moving forward. But as of right now, yeah, no, no playoff aspirations at the moment. And that's why the Reds absolutely can't lose this series, because it's clear that the Cardinals are coming in here, like with nothing to play for, they're just ready to be spoiler.

Starting point is 00:05:08 They're ready to mess up what the Reds got going on. And the Reds are limping home from a very horrible West Coast road trip. And quite frankly, I mean, you know, as much as West Coast road trips have always, always been tough, even back when the Reds, you know, primary logo was the shirt that I'm wearing now back in the 70s, even then, they had trouble on the West Coast. But, man, it feels like they're all but sunk. Like the, the boat that, uh, that Jack Sparrow, you know, floated into the dock on, like there's a little bit that's poking up above the water, but we, they're on life support right now. And that's why they've got to go in this.

Starting point is 00:05:49 series and I won't think we're getting Chase Burns back. You're not going to see him yet. I think he's throwing on the bullpen. He's throwing another bullpen session on the 30th, and it's likely that he will return at some point in this homestown, but it's not going to be against the Cardinals. And so pitching-wise, this team is kind of coming into this, hoping for some better starting pitching than what they saw in L.A. There was a lot of struggles between Hunter Green and Nicodolo and even Nick Martinez. And Nicodolo, his first time through the order, he was against the Dodgers. And he won't get a chance to pitch in this one. I think we'll see Hunter later on in the series, but you also have Andrew Abbott on Saturday who needs a bounce back.

Starting point is 00:06:32 He suffered the worst start of his career in Arizona. And so how does he bounce back from that? Do we see him bounce back from that? Because all of these guys are getting into the point of the season that they've never been to so far in their young careers where, you know, the Cardinals had a lot of veteran pitchers on their on their roster this year. The Reds are still very young on the pitching. They're very talented, but guys that haven't pitched that deep into the season, and now we're going to see can they handle that? Yeah. It's been, and I feel bad because you guys go to L.A. and you face the Dodgers and like you hit a buzzsaw. And that was your, your word, by the way, that you used. Well, I think last week was the buzz saw that the Reds

Starting point is 00:07:14 war and the Dodgers just played a really good ball in that series show Aetotani looked like. like, you know, top tier Otani as far as the pitching goes. So not the easiest place to play. And again, they're the world champs. They're defending champions. So I don't know if I'd be that upset with what you saw from the Reds because of that particular series, but disappointed for sure that, you know, you had chances to, you know, capitalize on some things that were going on out there.

Starting point is 00:07:40 And it really wasn't that close to the series, which has got a really kind of, you know, it's a punch in the gut when you're like, man, we didn't even like put up a fire. really. This was, this was bad. But luckily, you know, you're going to get a Cardinals team that's just kind of making their way through at the moment. They're getting kicked around by the pirates. They lost series to the Rockies this month. They're like, it's not like this is the Cardinals that we're all used to. And I know people still bring them up. And like, oh, you know, it's still them though. I'm always worried. I don't worry about these guys. Like, come out and do your thing. Come out with confidence and take advantage of a pitching. staff that really just has not been very good this year. You are going to get Matthew Libertor in that first game. He's somebody who hasn't gone all that deep in games. You get McGreevy, who's going to be pitching on Saturday, who's been a nice story, former first round pick, and he's going to be there on Saturday's game against Abbott.

Starting point is 00:08:38 So they've been able to win games when McGreevy's there, but it's not like he dominates or anything. He's a pitch to contact guy, like most of these guys for the Cardinals. so I wouldn't be too frightened of him, especially at Great American Ballpark. And then you get Palante on Sunday, who has pitched very well against you guys. Yes, and not anybody else.

Starting point is 00:08:58 I don't know what it is about the Reds that he tends to pull out all his tricks, but the way he's pitched over his last, you know, 10 games has just been god awful to a point where we're like trying to find, because anybody else throw it? Is there anybody else in this organization that the Cardinals could trust to bring in until they, so they can fix this guy because he's somebody that might be a part of this rotation next year. But it's to a point where like, I worry about his mental side of things

Starting point is 00:09:25 at this point where he's just can't get anything done right. And he's just getting pounded. Like the pirates just took him out to the woodshed the other day. So it's, it's not the cardinal team that you guys remember. It's definitely not the same team that was in Cincinnati in the middle of the season where there was a split of, uh, you know, of two each. And that four games set included a rainout game that you guys won, but definitely not the same squad. I was going to say I was looking at that in the season series right now,

Starting point is 00:09:56 the Cardinals are actually ahead four to three. And there's six games left remaining on the season for both these teams together. Got to see if the Reds can take advantage of that. And I know that there's a few players that are going to play into that, including as we mentioned, the starter on Saturday, Andrew Abbott, what do we expect from some key guys? Coming up this weekend, we'll talk about that next. Hey, Reds, fans, are you still paying full price for gas?

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Starting point is 00:11:00 daily commutes, and you can too. Plus, you can cash out any time to your bank account, PayPal, or an e-gift card for Amazon and other brands. Don't let this offer drive on by. Download the free upside app now and use my limited time promo code season for a limited 25% per gallon Bonus. That's promo code S-E-S-O-N. Offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for terms and conditions. Thank you for making lockdown Reds and Lockdown Cardinals part of your everyday routine. If you're not in every day or out there, hit that subscribe button to both of our shows. We'll get you covered all throughout the year with all things Reds and Cardinals every single day. All right, J-D, like this series is going to present a couple of interesting challenges here because I know there was the incident here recently with

Starting point is 00:11:52 Wilson Contreras and an umpire. Is it a bit of frustration with him? Is it, is everything kind of boiling over? Or is he ready to go? Because it kind of seems like he's like, dude, I want to finish this thing with the Cardinals no matter what. I just think he didn't like being called a liar, to be honest with you. That's true.

Starting point is 00:12:11 I did hear that clip. That was wrong with the idea that the um said he said something that he adamantly says he did not say. I did not say that. And he's like, you want me to call you that? You want me to say that? And then all hell broke loose. And, you know, when it gets to it, I think you're right when.

Starting point is 00:12:30 And when it comes to at this point of the season, you know, frustrations are boiling over for the Cardinals who, they didn't expect to be great by any means. You know, and most people didn't expect them to be contenders in the division, let alone the wild card. But when you're losing to the Rockies and you're losing to the pirates and these are teams that you're supposed to be beating, even if you are. a middle of the road team and it's not going your way. Sometimes you just, you just pop. And I feel like that was what happened with Wilson Contreras. You know,

Starting point is 00:13:03 he's had an opportunity. They've talked to him and Sunny Gray and no one Aronado about, hey, you want us to move on from you and let you go somewhere else because they all had no trade clauses. You know, we will help you if you want to go. And they,

Starting point is 00:13:16 all three of them didn't want to go anywhere. They all wanted to stay. And Wilson Contreras continues to say he loves it here. Sunny Gray continues to say I'm not willing to give up on this team and not this franchise. And I think we have good pieces here. But clearly things are not working. It's going to be a transition rolling into next season. I would expect some moves from Hein Bloom on his side of things.

Starting point is 00:13:37 I would expect some prospects that you might see in September to have bigger roles coming up in 2026. But there's still that danger side with Wilson. Like, he's still a pretty good header. He's definitely not gone away offensively, and he's played better at first base than I think most people would have imagined. But he's certainly one of the few veterans that are left in the middle of this order that you should fear if you're the Cincinnati Reds. But most of the guys that are in there right now, younger guys that they're just trying to get more looks at. And, you know, as you know, with younger players, a lot of ups and downs. And that's kind of where the Cardinals are right now.

Starting point is 00:14:16 They're just a team floating if we can continue with the boat stuff. They're just a team kind of floating at sea. They don't suck, but they're not really good either. They're just trying to figure out where the hell this boat's going to go towards 2026. Is he the main guy that you're looking at in this line? Because I know, like for his career, there's two places that he has a lot of home runs at, and that's because he's been a cub and a cardinal. And then there's great American ballpark that he's hit 11 bombs at.

Starting point is 00:14:43 Yeah, yeah. No, he loves hitting there, man. I think most hitters would enjoy hitting their regularly. It's a nice place, you know, for the, for the offensive side of the thing. He's a guy. I would also, a guy that's been warming up in a familiar guy that I'm sure, you know, Nolan Gorman, who's been taking over at third base since Nolan Aronado's been out with the shoulder strain. And he's, we've been impressed with what he's been doing.

Starting point is 00:15:08 He's got tremendous power. It hasn't quite taken off the way they thought it would this year. But he's become a better hitter now that he's got more at bats with Aronado being out. He has not been very good over at third base. And I know we've been spoiled over the years with Scott Rowland and Aronado. You felt the Scott Rowland experience in Cincinnati for a while there and how good he is. So to go from one of those guys to Nolan Aronado and now you get Gorman there and you're like, how come you can't do everything that these guys do?

Starting point is 00:15:36 It's a little unfair to Nolan Gorman. But he's done a lot better. He's taking a lot more walks. Strikeouts are coming down a little bit. But he's just having better overall at bats. And I think that goes with being able to take more bats in general, where he's not a guy that's only playing maybe three times a week. He's getting the full slate.

Starting point is 00:15:55 So certainly a guy I would keep an eye on. Mason Wynn, he's dealing with a knee injury, but he's a guy that's a big spark plug. I think he's the face of the franchise moving forward. He's just got, you know, he's tremendous defensively over there at shortstop. So Yvonne Herrera is another name maybe to watch too, has had a couple of huge games for the Cardinals, a couple of injuries setting back this year,

Starting point is 00:16:20 but another right-handed bat that can definitely do some damage. But most of the guys in the outfield, you know, Lars Neup Bar, you're familiar with, hasn't done all that much this year. They got a kid named Nathan Church in Centerfield. He's been a lot of fun to watch. Jordan Walker hasn't quite taken off, although he's been better,

Starting point is 00:16:38 but they're still looking for the power from him. But offensively, it's been a struggle without guys like Brinandon Donovan and Nolan Arnado in the lineup. I'm going to probably just be thinking about and or the whole time that I watched Nolan Gorman play because of Gorman and the whole planet there in the final season of Andor. So that's definitely going to happen. But let me some Star Wars anyway.

Starting point is 00:17:01 Anyway, get off the Star Wars for a minute. On the red side of things, in the lineup, it's all about Noelvi-Marté. How is he going to continue to hit? Because he has been so hot here recently, the ill-advised bunt on Tuesday night, not withstanding. And then how does he play in the field? Because I think that he's starting to take to right field. We never really saw his glove take off at third base. It just kind of felt like he was a fish out of water there, even though he came up as a shortstop. And they did try to move him to third base in the minor leagues and get him more comfortable there before they called him up. He just never really did

Starting point is 00:17:37 get comfy. And so they moved him to right field and acquired key Brian Hayes and now third base defensively is set for the next four years. I mean, Brian Hayden, oh, the plays that he makes is just ridiculous. And I'm so happy that the Reds got him. But who else steps up? Because L.A. La Cruz has just absolutely flatlined. The month of August has been horrible for him.

Starting point is 00:18:01 I didn't look at his splits. I'd be surprised if he's above 200 for the month now. As far as batting average goes, he has just been god awful. at the plate. He's got to figure something out. And maybe this is the series to do that, but it's going to be a first for him in the month of August. He did finally get his first stolen base in about a month in that third game against the Dodgers. That's crazy. That's the, that's been the weirdest part of this whole year where it looked like he was getting better at the plate, at least until the month of August started. But he hadn't been stealing bases. And a lot of

Starting point is 00:18:36 that was dealing with a quad issue for the most of this season. But he's been playing every day. He has not had an off day. And that's going to be an interesting thing to see as we go through this stretch run here. I'm looking at a stats right now for you, Jeff. I got this looked up for you. We got Ellie at 218 for the month of August and no home runs, five RBIs, 35 strikeouts. He hit one home run in the entire month of July. So he has one home run for the last two months. That's wild. It's been a absolute Jekyll and Hyde performance. I used that with Nicolito yesterday, but absolute Jekyll and Hyde performance for him where it looked like he was on pace to almost hit 30. And now we're just like hit 20. He's been stuck on 19 for what

Starting point is 00:19:23 feels like forever. Um, so how does he play in this series? And then on the bump, for me, it's about Andrew Abbott. Like how does he follow up that tough performance in Arizona? it wasn't that he lost his command and he was just throwing, you know, he's just walking guys left and right. He didn't have any walks in that game. It was just hard hit ball after hard hit ball. How do you come back from that? Because as a pitcher, that's got to be something that immediately you forget about.

Starting point is 00:19:51 But you know, the first hard hit ball that he gives up to St. Louis, probably going to come all flooding back into his memory. So how does he pitch in Saturday's game following up that performance? here because he's been so good. And he has been one of the best reasons to believe in this team. But if he falls apart, that's really where we lose hope because this pitching staff has dealt with injuries to Hunter Green, who is back and he's looking good. His last start in Los Angeles, it was just 1,000 percent adrenaline all the way through. He never settled in. So can he settle in in his next start? But for me, it's about how does Andrew Abbott face up against this lineup? As you said,

Starting point is 00:20:33 it's a little bit hurt and where do the reds go from here with him? Because this pitching staff is what leads this team. Yeah, I know Abbott's had a lot of success against the Cardinals over the years, you know, I say years like he's been around a decade or something, but just in general, like it feels like every time they see him, like he's on his A game and is able to shut him down. Cardinals don't have as much success against lefties as they have against righties. So that's obviously something that'll go in his favor as well. But yeah, you know, you and I, we sit there and go, just forget about it, move on or whatever. And it's, you know, easier said than done. And like you said, you know, there's that

Starting point is 00:21:14 mental side of baseball where, you know, as soon as something, if you're coming off of maybe a bad start or a couple of bad at bats and as soon as something happens, it triggers, you know, to go right back to that situation that you were previously in. And it's, it's hard to block that out. And, you know, I, I have faith in Abbott. Every time I've seen him pitch, I didn't get to catch this game that he threw against the Dodgers. I didn't see much of that one. But anytime I'm scared. He is very much looked in command at all times.

Starting point is 00:21:42 And again, this is not the Dodgers lineup that you're going to have to face. This is a Cardinals offense that has really tapered off with the injuries and as the season has progressed. So I would have faith in them if I was the Cincinnati Reds fan base. So I wouldn't worry too much about it. just come out and do what you normally do. We'll tell you who's going to win this series coming up next. Today's episode being brought to you by Monarch Money.

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Starting point is 00:23:37 If you go to the Lockdowne survey that we have for you at Lockdownpodcast.com slash survey, we're asking you about what you think for our content choices, our advertising choices, so many different things. We value our listeners and we value our audience. We would love to hear from you at Lockdownpodcast.com slash survey. If you're watching here on YouTube, a nice little QR code for you to scan and go check that out. When you fill a little survey out, you will be entered in to win one of one or one of 10, $100 Amazon gift cards. We appreciate you. I want to say that the Reds are going to play clean

Starting point is 00:24:16 baseball for three straight games. And I think if the Reds play clean baseball for three straight games, they got a chance to sweep. I just don't see it happening. They haven't playing clean baseball on a consistent basis all year long. And so I'm thinking St. Louis is going to get one of these games. And if their lineup can pull it together, St. Louis does have a chance to take two out of three. but I think that the Reds take two out of three in this weekend series. I think they're going to win Andrew Rabbit's start. And then Sunday is going to be kind of a toss up here. What Andre Palante shows up because for his short career,

Starting point is 00:24:50 it's been the one that dominates the Reds. And so that's kind of be the tough one for me. I think that the Reds take two out of three. Well, I don't want to agree with you just because that's boring podcasting, but it's hard not to because two out of three is kind of what I think. feel too. I think the Reds are the better team. I think in pretty much every way, shape, and form, there's nothing about the Cardinals that should frighten you. It is weird. Like we brought up earlier, that Palante has been so good against the Reds out of all people and pitches well in Great

Starting point is 00:25:22 American Ballpark. He's a sinker ball pitcher, and he keeps it down, but at the same time, like, just they continue to find holes. Like, what was it? Like, the last nine games, like, they're hitting like 380 off of them and balls and plays over 400. Like it's crazy. Like the stats are ridiculous. Like he's like a batting practice pitcher. But I don't, something weird happens when he goes up against the Reds. And it's just very, very strange. I would be shocked if that was the game that they ended up winning. I don't want to say, because they just win in Michael McGreeby starts. So I tell you what, I'll go up against you and say they beat Andrew Abbott, but they don't beat Abbott. I think they beat the bullpen of the Reds and they find a way to win with McGreevy on the mound because

Starting point is 00:26:06 for whatever reason, they do that when he's your starting pitcher. I don't know if we've ever even faced Zach Lattel ever, but I know he's pitched pretty decent for the Reds so far. Matthew Libert Torres looked pretty good. So that's kind of a iffy one, but I know how you guys are on Fridays. You wear those nasty black uniforms, which are very menacing. So I will take you guys because of cool outfits on Friday. I'll take the upset win on Saturday just because of Michael McGreevy. And then I don't trust Andre Palante as much as I can throw him. So I would say you win that one and take two of three this weekend. But we make you sweat. We make you sweat, Jeff, because we make you wait until Sunday to wrap it up before the big weekend for Labor Day

Starting point is 00:26:52 weekend. It makes this team, the Reds just make you sweat right now. And honestly, it's kind of funny because if you break down how the Cardinals have faced the Reds this year, they've pitched well against them. They have an ERA of three in their seven games, and they haven't hit. The Cardinals against the Reds this year as a team have a team slash line of 191, 288, 333. But they've managed to score 30 times and outscore the Reds 30 to 23. So there's something about like drawing the walks, forcing some errors. The Reds do have some unearned run. runs allowed against the Cardinals as they do with just about everything. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:27:33 You guys got to keep a clean for sure because that's one way. You don't want to let us get on base like that and do damage that way. Free base runners is never a good idea. Make the Cardinals put the ball in play. Defensively, the Cardinals play pretty darn good. Again, Gorman's kind of a weak spot over a third right now, but everywhere else is pretty solid right now. So you're not going to get a lot of free ones that way from the Redbirds.

Starting point is 00:27:57 Yeah, they've drawn, the Cardinals have drawn 26 walks in seven games against the Reds. Like, that's wild. Just throw strikes, you know. I know pitchers love hearing that, but just throw strikes. I don't know. Maybe that'll help. I do, I do find that intriguing. And I think at the end of this, the guy that's going to affect this series the most is probably

Starting point is 00:28:21 the guy in the middle of that Cardinals lineup. If Wilson Contreras goes, this could be a tough series for the Red Legs. if they are able to shut him down, I kind of feel good about their chances here of even getting a sweep. But I just feel like there's going to be one game where they hand the game to the Cardinals. Because they, I feel like in every series that they haven't swept, they've done that.

Starting point is 00:28:43 There's just one game where it's like, it's your game, take it. And that's what's happened to them. And each and every series, I know they've had a couple of sweeps, but that's when they play clean baseball for three straight ball games. So can that happen?

Starting point is 00:28:56 I don't know, but they've got to shut down Wilson Contreras to get there. Yeah, it's hard to argue with that. I'd also put out a guy that's a key for the Cardinals, another slugger that's right there in the middle of the order with Willie is Alec Berluson, who is an underrated hitter in this league and has started to figure out how to hit left handers. And he's just solid. There's nothing special about him.

Starting point is 00:29:21 His nickname is Biscuits. He doesn't have a great physique. He's got, he's got, he's got, he's got, greasy long hair and he just doesn't look like he would be an athlete. And he is. And he's just a very good. He's very John Krucky, if you will, just the look at stuff. But he can rope, dude.

Starting point is 00:29:38 And he's a guy that is arguably been the best and most consistent hitter on the Cardinals throughout this entire season. So he's another name that I would keep an eye on in this one as well. So, okay, I now have an expectation for this year. It has to happen. At some point in these three games, We need to see Zach Maxwell face Alec Burleson because it would be big sugar against biscuits. I was hoping his name would be gravy.

Starting point is 00:30:05 That would have been awesome. No, that would be kind of funny too. He might even go for that. I don't know. But that is where we will end today's lockdown MLB crossover. Thank you so much for checking out this lockdown crossover. Make sure that you subscribe to lockdown Reds and Lockdown Cardinals the rest of the way because we're going to have you covered every single day because we're part of the Lockdown

Starting point is 00:30:24 podcast network. Your team. every single day.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Aim to DERAIL The Cincinnati Reds' Postseason Push

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