INSTANT REACTION: Reds Rally In Eighth For 6-1 Win To Avoid Series Sweep in Arizona

CINCINNATI -- The streak lives.

With a 6-1 win Sunday over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Reds' streak of not being swept all season continues.

More importantly, the Reds (68-63) move up a game to close within 1.5 games of the New York Mets in the third NL Wild Card race. The Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves earlier Sunday afternoon.

Let's look at the key takeaways from Sunday's 6-1 Reds win over the Diamondbacks.

Five-Run Eighth Inning

The Reds needed this inning. For an offense that has struggled in this series, and for most of this season, the top of the eighth Sunday in Arizona was much-needed.

We've seen the Reds have big innings throughout the season, but this one carries more weight because it comes on August 24th on a day where the Reds could play their way back to just 1.5 games behind the New York Mets for the third NL Wild Card.

Speaking of big innings, how many times has Spencer Steer come up with a big hit for the Reds this season? He had the game-winning three-run, triple against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 30th and a game-tying single in the bottom of the 11th against the New York Yankees on June 24th.

Steer has a knack for coming through in high-leverage situations, and Sunday's three-run home-run in the top of the eighth broke the game open and could be a momentum surge for the Reds as they head to Los Angeles this week.

Brady Singer With Another Strong Start

Singer just continues to pitch well when he goes out to the mound. He's 3-1 this month with an ERA of 2.08 and 31 strikeouts.

The Reds right-hander pitched six innings on Sunday afternoon, allowing just one earned run on one hit and three walks with nine strikeouts.

Down the stretch, the Reds need starting pitching depth. What's great about Singer's start on Sunday is that it came the day after ace and All-Star Andrew Abbott struggled. Singer was able to pick him up and the Reds team up.

That says a lot about who Singer is as a starting pitcher. His next start should be Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Notes And Observations

• Cincinnati went 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
• Arizona went 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base.
• The Reds bullpen pitched three shutout innings.
• Arizona starter Zac Gallen pitched six innings and allowed one earned run on four hits, one walk and seven strikeouts. He threw 61 of his 95 pitches for strikes.
  

Scoring Summary

Bottom 1st
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. RBI sacrafice fly (Diamondbacks lead 1-0)

Top 6th
CIN: Noelvi Marte triple, scores on throwing error (Tied 1-1)

Top 8th
CIN: Austin Hays RBI single (Reds lead 2-1)

CIN: Spencer Steer three-run home-run (16) (Reds lead 5-1)

CIN: TJ Friedl RBI single (Reds lead 6-1)

On Deck

The Reds now head back to Los Angeles, this time to take on the reigning World Series champion Dodgers Monday-Wednesday.

Los Angeles is currently 73-57 and one game out of first place in the National League West behind the San Diego Padres. At the time this story was published, the Dodgers and Padres had yet to play Sunday.

Get ready for some late nights, because the first two games start at 10:10 E.T. on FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati and 700WLW. Wednesday's game will start at 8:40 E.T..

Hunter Greene (5-3, 2.63 ERA), Nick Martinez (10-9, 4.59 ERA) and a pitcher to be determined is how the Reds rotation is scheduled going into the series.

For the Dodgers, right-hander Emmet Sheehan (4-2, 4.17 ERA), left-hander Clayton Kershaw (8-2, 3.13 ERA) and right-hander Shohei Ohtani (0-1, 4.61 ERA) is how their rotation lines up this week.

Monday's and Tuesday's games are on MLB Network outside of the Reds and Dodgers team markets.