Reds take 3 of 4 from Marlins, still somewhat ‘in’ this playoff chase

An eventful 10-4 win in extra innings on Thursday capped a wild series in Miami.

While it isn’t true that the Miami Marlins traded away every single player who’d ever worn their jersey before at this July’s trade deadline, the reality is close enough to that statement that it at least made you count on your fingers for a minute.

This current iteration of the Marlins is a shell of its former self. There’s no denying that. Still, teams are being tasked with taking them down when scheduled, and that’s precisely what the Cincinnati Reds managed to accomplish mid-week in the steamy depths of South Florida.

The Reds won a wild one on Thursday evening, a 10-4 game that saw them plate 7 (!!) runs in the Top of the 10th inning thanks, in part, to some comically sad defense from the Fish. Still, it solidified a series victory on the road in which they claimed 3 of 4, and at 56-59 the Reds are still somehow floating around the fringes of maybe actually still technically being ‘in’ this thing.

They are still in last place in the National League Central division, however. They are still 5.0 games out of the final National League Wild Card spot, and would need to jump 5 other clubs to claim it. Next up they have to travel to face the mighty Milwaukee Brewers, who a) sit atop the division by a clear margin and b) though so highly of themselves two weeks ago that they traded for Reds Opening Day starter Frankie Montas as Cincinnati began to ‘sell’ without being ‘sellers.’

What the Reds do have going for them post-deadline is one of the more dynamic two-way combos in the game, as Elly De La Cruz continues to rewrite statistical record books while TJ Friedl emerges from the litany of injuries he faced earlier in the year to look like the player who lead the Reds in WAR in 2023 once again. TJ is fresh off going 5 for 15 with a pair of dingers, 10 ribbies, and 3 runs scored in the series against Miami, while Elly went off to the tune of 11 for 19 with 7 runs scored, 4 doubles, a pair of homers, and a pair of steals.

Elly, for the record, is now valued as the 5th best position player in baseball so far this year with 5.7 fWAR. He’s the owner of a 135 OPS+ and a steal away from his 60th bag of the year with some 47 games remaining. My goodness.

Anyway, the Reds looked good in the win/loss column against some pitiful competition this week, and they also outscored Miami 34-13 in the process. However, they needed extra innings on Thursday to prevent splitting the 4-game series with the Fish, and those two sentences pretty well sum up what the Reds have been for most all of the 2024 season. If they’re truly going to make a miraculous run up the Wild Card ladder, changin that tune must begin immediately.

Immediately means tonight in Milwaukee, where the Brewers play host to the Reds on Apple TV+ at 8:10 PM ET.