CINCINNATI -- The Reds are hungry to reach the postseason, something they haven't done in a full season since 2013. It was demonstrated on the field Wednesday in how they fought for a 5-2 victory over the Dodgers and off the field with a pair of trades that they hope improves the club down the stretch.
"We’ve got a good team," said Reds first baseman Spencer Steer, who fought through an 11-pitch at-bat that ended with a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth inning. "When we play clean baseball, I think we’re tough to beat. Adding players is always a good thing. I think we’re excited. We have a lot of work left to do, but we’re right in the mix and that’s all you can ask for us down here.”
The win helped Cincinnati (57-52) stay three games behind the Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot as clubs across baseball jockey for deals ahead of Thursday's 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline.
“Huge," said starting pitcher Nick Martinez, who allowed two earned runs and four hits over six innings for a no-decision. "We played pretty solid baseball from the first game. We’re really showing who we are and not giving in.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the Reds acquired Gold Glove third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes from the Pirates for reliever Taylor Rogers, shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura and cash. Not long after the game ended, starting pitcher Zack Littell was acquired from the Rays for two Minor Leaguers. The front office has also been seeking bullpen help and a bat to bolster the lineup, so more moves could be ahead.
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The Reds remained Major League Baseball's only team that hasn't been swept in a series. After dropping the first two games against the Dodgers, they had to dig deep in the finale.
It was a 2-2 game in the bottom of the eighth when Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan walked Austin Hays with one out and Tyler Stephenson with two outs. That set it up for Steer, who dueled Sheehan for 11 pitches -- including five fouls with two strikes. One of them was a near foul ball catch for left fielder Andy Pages, but he could not hang onto it by the sidewall.
“I was just begging for it to go foul. I got a second chance and you’ve got to take advantage of it when you get them," Steer said.
Three pitches later, Steer drove the ball to straightaway center field. James Outman made a superb leaping attempt but the ball skipped off his glove and back into play.
“I’ll tell you what. If that kid catches that ball, you’d have seen me cry," manager Terry Francona said. "He had such a good at-bat, too. My goodness."
As the ball landed on the warning track, Hays and Stephenson scored while Steer motored into third base.
“I thought it was a homer for sure. He got up pretty good and almost took it away. That would have hurt," Steer said. “[Sheehan] kept making pitches. He’s got a good heater and he’s living at the top of the zone. It’s tough to get on top of. I was just trying to find a way to get on top of it. It took [11] pitches or so to do it but I did.”
Will Benson followed with an RBI single to right field for a three-run lead.
The big inning followed a critical top of the eighth inning. Right-handed reliever Scott Barlow inherited runners on first and second base with one out from lefty Sam Moll. Teoscar Hernández added a single to center field that took an odd hop. Benson made a nice stop of the ball to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring, but the bases were loaded.
Barlow got Pages to foul pop out to Steer at first base and Michael Conforto to fly out to right field to escape the jam and earn the win.
“There’s a lot of things that happened during that game that if one of them went the wrong way, we were probably going to lose," Francona said.
Cincinnati extended its franchise record of not being swept to begin a season to 35 series in a row. It was the sixth time in 2025 the Reds avoided a sweep with a win in the final game.
“Just being able to battle adversity," Stephenson said of the impressive streak. "I felt like we played pretty well the last couple of games and some stuff just didn’t go our way. We’re just still showing up and we know what we’re capable of.”