Reds at tipping point of making postseason

It’s what you would call a do-or-die situation, but let’s not call it that because we all know the outcome.

The Cincinnati Reds have had a habit of teasing the fans with making the postseason playoffs and keeping everyone interested until September.

And just when your hopes rise to the idea “this is going to be the year,” the air comes out of the balloon and fans are left with a round, empty, plastic object known as another disappointment.

The Reds made a few moves that looked like they would improve their chances down the stretch. But when the Reds reached the dog days of summer in August, they posted a 12-15 record.

The Reds were the only team in baseball not to have been swept in any series this season until they lost three straight to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But after getting within one-half game of the New York Mets on Aug. 16 for the final wild card playoff spot, the Reds have gone 6-10. Besides the Dodgers series, they lost 2-out-of-3 to the Brewers, Diamondbacks and Cardinals. They won the series from the Angels 2-1 but split four games with the Pirates.

They split with the Pirates. You can give them losing to Paul Skenes, but the other three games should have been wins.

On Monday, the Reds came from behind in the ninth inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays — leaders of the Eastern Division in the American League — by a 5-4 score. The two final games are crucial and the next series is a real do-or-die situation as they host the Mets in a three-game set.

As of now, the Reds need to go 16-8 and the Mets play .500 in order to take the playoff spot. Go 16-8? They just went 6-10 during the start of crunch time. The only crunching going on here is their playoff hopes.

There is no going 2-1 against the Mets. That only gets them a game closer. They need a sweep. This is the time to follow the words of legendary NFL coachVince Lombardi, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

If the Reds don’t come out of this week within a game or two of the Mets, not even the unveiling of the Marty Brennaman statue on Saturday or another Elly De La Cruz bobblehead day will keep the fans coming to Great American Ball Park.

On the positive side, this Reds team has the ability to win if healthy. The defense needs to play better than it has in the past few weeks. De La Cruz — who is more suited for the outfield — has a good glove but he leads the team with 22 errors and most of those are throwing errors.

Chase Burns may be back soon and the Reds should consider him to be their closer. Pagan is starting to show the result of 58 appearances as are Santillan with 68 games and Barlow with 67.

There still remains some hope the Reds can get the job done, so let’s call it make-or-break week. Saying do-or-die always seems to bring the morticians to the ballpark.