Athletics at Cincinnati Reds

Entering Wednesday, the Reds' chances of making the playoffs – according to FanGraphs – were just 2%. Not great at all, or even close to good, but players haven't written themselves off with just under two months until the postseason. Wednesday's 3-2 victory over the A's at Great American Ball Park gave the Reds the first two games of the series. They're 12-6 since the All-Star break and are three games under .500 at 55-58. They have claimed five of the last six series and have taken 10 of the last 14 games, with nine victories by two runs or less. “I think we’re just playing really free," Reds starting pitcher Rhett Lowder said. "You’ve seen us kind of have a couple of comeback wins. And we think we’re going to win every game, which is probably the most important thing for a team." And while bad news flowed again earlier in the day with Hunter Greene going back on the injured list with right elbow soreness, Lowder looked good as he pitched six innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while notching three strikeouts. Welcomed, indeed. “I can’t figure out a day when we don’t want it, regardless of what happens," manager Terry Francona said. "You got to go play. Whatever happens, you go play. Our guys did a good job.” Lowder opened the game with Lawrence Butler slugging his 1-2 sinker for a leadoff home run to right field. After that, he was almost flawless for several innings. “The second guy hit the ball pretty good too, and then he gathered himself," Francona said of Lowder. "He gave up a run late but six innings, two runs.” Lowder retired 11 of his next 13 batters and didn't give up another hit until Tommy White's two-out single in the fourth inning. Matt McLain gave the Reds a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning with a two-out solo homer to right field against A's starter Jacob Lopez. In the sixth inning, Tyler Soderstrom hit a one-out single off Lowder and scored the tying run on Jonah Heim's RBI double to right field. "I gave up the lead the last inning and really, no one was worried about that," Lowder said. "That’s the mentality you have to have as a good team. When you’re playing well, don’t worry about giving up a run or striking out or having a bad inning. You’re pretty confident you’ve got time to win the game.”