VOTTO: REDS WILL BE A NIGHTMARE
Optimismabounds after playoffffff-clinching victory.
Two words summed up Friday night for theReds: “Respect Cincinnati.”
Major League Baseball provided T- shirts for the Cincinnati Reds after they clinched a playoff berth with a 7-2 victory against the Minnesota Twins. Those twowords were on every shirt, and every playerwore the shirts as they posed for a team photo on the mound at Target Field after the game.
The Reds had little respect from either their fans or the baseballworld13 days earlier on Sept. 12. Alittlemore than three quarters of the way through the 60-game season, they were 20-26. They had never been worse than six games under .500, but they had not flirted with getting back to .500 or over it either.
The only thing keeping hope alive was the expanded playoffffffs. With eight teams in each league advancing to the postseason, the Reds knew even a .500 record might be good enough.
It still might be. The Reds improved to 30-28 on Friday, and they will play in the wildcard series nomatterwhat happens in their final two regular- season games against the Twins. They clinched a postseason berth — and the respect they sought— bywinning for the 10th time in the last 12 games.
The players talked a good game before the season when hopes were high, saying the goalwas aworldchampionship. They never wavered in their optimism. Their words Friday night as they spoke to themedia on a Zoom call — how all interviews are being conducted this season because of the coronavirus pandemic — continued to paint a picture of a team that believes it can win it all.