INSTANT REACTION: Reds Jump Out to Early Lead, Cruise to 4-1 Win Over Angels

CINCINNATI -- All you can do is win your game. That's all teams can do in the thick of the pennant race.

The Reds did just that Monday night, beating the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 to get back to six games over .500 at 66-60. With the New York Mets idle on Monday, the Reds moved to within one game out of the third NL Wild Card spot.

Gavin Lux hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, and that was more than enough for Brady Singer to deliver another solid performance on the mound.

Let's look at the key takeaways from the Reds 4-1 win over the Angels Monday night.

Brady Singer Goes Six Strong Innings

The Reds right-hander continues to make the Reds look good for trading for him back in November.

Singer pitched six innings of one-run baseball, and he pitched a shutout over his final five innings. He allowed just six hits and a walk with four strikeouts. He three 88 pitches, 55 for strikes.

In August, Singer is 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA. He's pitched six innings in three of his four starts this month, with zero or one walk allowed also in three out of his four starts.

More impressively, Singer now leads the Reds with 11 wins. Who would have thought with Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott on staff that Singer would lead the Reds in wins? It's why the Reds look good for trading for him.

Bullpen Delivers Shutout Effort

A trio of Reds relievers pitched the final three innings and kept the Angels off the board. Connor Phillips, Luis Mey and Scott Barlow contributed to the bullpen's shutout effort Monday night.

It was a key bounce-back from this weekend against the Brewers. Now, we will see if they can continue to keep the Angels off the board in the next two games this series.

Scott Barlow pitched 1 1/3 innings for the save Monday night, with four strikeouts encompassing all four outs.

Notes And Observations

• Gavin Lux, Austin Hays and Noelvi Marte each had multiple hits.
• Cincinnati went 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.
• Angels starting pitcher Victor Mederos pitched five innings and allowed three earned runs on nine hits, three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches, 58 for strikes.
• The top seven hitters in the Angels all had at least one hit.
• Los Angeles went 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.
• Eight of the nine hitters in the Reds lineup had at least one hit.

Scoring Summary

Top 1st
CIN: Gavin Lux two-run home run (5) (Reds lead 2-0)

Bottom 1st
LAA: Taylor Ward RBI double (Reds lead 2-1)

Top 5th
CIN: Austin Hays RBI sacrafice fly (Reds lead 3-1)

Top 8th
CIN: Matt McLain RBI sacrafice fly (Reds lead 4-1)

On Deck

The series between the Reds and Angels continues Tuesday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.

Hunter Greene (5-3, 2.47 ERA) will start against Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.88 ERA). Greene pitched six shutout innings in his first start back from the injured list last Wednesday. This will be his first road start since May 28th.

First pitch is at 9:38 E.T. on FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati and 700WLW.