If the Reds miss the playoffs by one game, this will be the loss that will haunt them.
Cincinnati blew a nine-run lead in a 13-12 home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night, which dropped the Reds 2 ½ games back in the wild-card race with just six games left on their schedule.
Pittsburgh’s rally marked the largest in the franchise’s 142-year history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The team had been 0-819 in such instances, per MLB.com.
The Pirates tweeted that MLB teams had been 205-0 this season when leading by at least nine runs entering Saturday.
The Reds blew a nine-run lead for the first time in 19 years, per USA Today.
“It’s been an unbelievable year for us in the bullpen, but it’s been a real challenge,” Reds reliever Fernando Cruz said, according to USA Today. “We’re really forced to pitch a lot. We’re capable of it. We work hard. We built a really good culture here.
“Today, we just collapsed.”
Cincinnati’s playoff hopes may have received a fatal blow Saturday night after they built a 9-0 lead entering the fourth inning.
The Reds allowed one run in the fourth but still led 9-1 entering the sixth before the game started to unravel.
Starter Connor Phillips and reliever Alex Young combined to allow five runs in the inning, suddenly making it a 9-6 game.
Cruz loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh before being replaced by Lucas Sims, who promptly allowed a game-tying double to Alfonso Rivas.
“I couldn’t do my job,” Cruz said, per USA Today. “I feel terrible. It was the time to give back to the team and get out of that dangerous position we were in. We weren’t able to do it. It cost us the game.”
A hit by pitch and two singles against closer Alexis Diaz — brother of Mets closer Edwin Diaz — then gave the Pirates a stunning 10-9 lead in the eighth.
The Pirates pushed that lead to 13-9, but the Reds scored two in the bottom of the inning to close the deficit to 13-11 entering the ninth.
Cincinnati put men on second and third with no outs in the ninth against Carmen Mlodzinski, but Elly De La Cruz struck out with the tying run on third and one out in a 13-12 game.
Mlodzinski retired Jonathan India on a fly ball to center to end the game.
“This bullpen has been contributing so much every game this whole season,” Díaz said, according to USA Today. “That’s why we’re here at this moment. We’re in crunch time right now. We know we have to forget about everything that’s happened in this game and move on.”
The Reds are now three games behind the Cubs, owners of the third wild card spot, in the loss column, and now have just a 7.6 percent chance of making the playoffs, per Fangraphs.
Cincinnati lost four straight games and will finish this three-game set Sunday before ending the season on the road against the Guardians and Cardinals.
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