Reds ‘continue to believe’ as they creep back into wild card race

“We just have to keep going,” Bell told reporters. “It’s that simple. I know it sounds ridiculous, but just keep going. Keep playing. Don’t worry about anything else. Continue to believe in what we’re doing. Continue to work like our guys do — they’re great at that. Play hard. Stay together. Do the things that we do. Stay focused on that and don’t pay attention to anything else. Just keep playing the game you love to play.”

The Reds took a four-game winning streak into an off day Thursday and start a three-game series in Cincinnati on Friday against the Kansas City Royals (66-55). A win Friday would get the Reds back to .500 for the first time since they were 16-16 on May 3.

Here’s a quick breakdown of where the Reds stand with six weeks remaining in the regular season:

1. Wild card race: The Reds have a 3.4% chance to win one of the three wild cards, according to FanGraphs.com.

The Arizona Diamondbacks (69-53) and San Diego Padres (69-53) are tied for the top wild card spot and have a 4½-game lead over the Atlanta Braves (64-57), who would win the third wild card if the standings don’t change.

Two more teams, the New York Mets (62-59) and San Francisco Giants (62-62), are ahead of the Reds and Cardinals (60-61), who are tied for sixth in the wild card standings.

2. Hot bats: The Reds hit 10 home runs in three games against the Cardinals and lead Major League Baseball with 27 home runs in 13 games in August. They have moved into 11th place with 146 home runs this season.

3. Ace pitcher: Hunter Greene (9-4, 2.83 ERA) keeps improving his numbers in his third season. He’s 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA in his last seven starts. He has struck out 53 batters in 46 innings in that stretch.

From July 11 through Aug. 8, he didn’t allow a run in 24 consecutive innings. That was the longest streak by a Reds pitcher since Tom Browning threw 25 straight scoreless innings in 1989.

4. Looking ahead: After playing the Royals, the Reds play 10 straight games against teams with losing records: three games at the Toronto Blue Jays (57-64); four games at the Pittsburgh Pirates (56-64); and three games at home against the Oakland Athletics (52-70).

SATURDAY’S GAME

Royals at Reds, 6:40 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, 700, 1410