WEEKEND ROUND-UP: Unpacking the Reds Series Against Brewers

CINCINNATI -- Even though the Reds salvaged a game Sunday in their series with the Milwaukee Brewers this past weekend, there were some harrowing things confirmed that were talked about going into the series. Unfortunately, those things still rang true coming out of the series.

Milwaukee is really good. They just keep coming at you. It's not just against the Reds. The Brewers have been doing this all across Major League Baseball, entering Sunday 29-4 in their last 33 games.

But in particular against the Reds, it's like watching the 2005-2019 Pittsburgh Steelers beat up on the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals always had the talent to beat the Steelers, sometimes the better talent of the two teams, but the Steelers, more often than not, made the winning plays in those games.

That's what the Brewers do against the Reds. There's a reason they've won 13 straight series against them. The Brewers make the winning plays against the Reds at the plate, on the bases, and in the field.

Look at the two games Milwaukee won this weekend. The Reds committed three errors in both of those games, while the Brewers were error-free in both of those games.

Saturday night, the Reds had the winning run in scoring position with just one out in the bottom of the 10th. Elly De La Cruz struck out with runners on first and second and two outs to end the inning, and the Brewers took a 6-3 lead in the top of the 11th on a pinch-hit three-run home run by Andruw Monasterio.

It doesn't matter who is at the plate, on the bases or on the mound for the Brewers. They make winning plays.

It's been that way since mid-July of 2023. Remember when the Reds were scorching hot entering that weekend series in Milwaukee? They were in first place, Elly De La Cruz was the talk of Major League Baseball, and there appeared to be a shift to a winning culture in the Reds dugout. De La Cruz stole home in the second game of that series, but the Reds lost two out of the three games. The Brewers swept the Reds in Cincinnati the next weekend, and they also took two out of three in Milwaukee the next week.

We saw for years the St. Louis Cardinals do this against the Cincinnati Reds, sometimes with a team that wasn't as talented on paper as the Reds. Now, the Brewers are doing it. It's frustrating, but there's a blueprint that shows what the Reds need to do to beat the best in the NL Central.

Reds play-by-play announcer John Sadak tweeted something really profound Sunday night that suggests there is still hope for this Reds team to make the Postseason.

They're 65-60 with 37 games remaining, 1.5 games out of the third NL Wild Card, that is currently occupied by the New York Mets.

But this West Coast road trip coming up will make or break the season. The Reds have struggled out on the West Coast in recent seasons, but they need to find a way to beat teams they should beat, in the Anaheim Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks, before going to play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Reds found a way to salvage a game against the Brewers. Next up is conquering West Coast demons of seasons past.