MLB playoffs: Reds, Braves to play early game Wednesday

The No. 7 seed Cincinnati Reds and No. 2 Atlanta Braves will open a busy day Wednesday for Major League Baseball.

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All eight wild-card series will play that day, with games starting almost every hour all day, and the Reds and Braves begin the action with a noon game at Truist Park in Atlanta. ESPN will broadcast the game.

That’s the only game time that has been announced. The Reds and Braves play Game 2 on Thursday and will play a Game 3, if necessary, on Friday. All the games take place in Atlanta.

Trevor Bauer (5-4, 1.73 ERA) will start for the Reds against Braves ace Max Fried (7-0, 2.25).

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The Reds didn’t improve their playoff seeding by beating the Twins 5-3 in 10 innings Sunday but did end a streak of six straight losing seasons. They finished the 60-game season with a record of 31-29.

The six-year run of losing, which included four straight last-place finishes in the National League Central Division, was the fifth longest streak of losing seasons in franchise history since 1900. The Reds recorded 11 straight losing seasons from 1945-55. They suffered nine straight losing seasons from 2001-09 and 1929-37 and seven straight from 1910-16.

“We wanted to finish the season over .500,” starter Sonny Gray said. “We clawed to get back to .500 for so long throughout the course of these 60 games, and these 60 games were truly a whirlwind. It was something none of us had ever been a part of, something none of us had ever experienced before. Ending the season above .500 after being under .500 for so long throughout it, to finish with five series wins in a row after not winning many series throughout the first half or three quarters of the season. we feel really good with where we’re at.”

Reds infielder Kyle Farmer was more happy for the city of Cincinnati than the team that it finished the season above. 500.

“The city has been deserving of a winning record for its baseball team for a long time," Farmer said, “and I’m just happy for the city and all the fans out there. It’s an exciting time to see the culture change around the Cincinnati ballclub. I’m hoping more wins will come.”