With the Cardinals beating the Brewers 5-2 and Marlins beating the Yankees 5-0 on Sunday, the Reds could not improve their seeding even by beating the Twins. The Reds won 5-3 in 10 innings to clinch their first winning season since 2013.
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The Reds were one of four National League Central Division teams to make the playoffs. The Chicago Cubs are seeded third and will play the No. 6 seed Miami Marlins.
The Cardinals (30-28) earned the No. 5 seed and will play the No. 4 seed San Diego Padres (37-23). Even though the Brewers (29-31) lost Sunday, the earned the No. 8 seed because the San Francisco Giants (29-31) and Philadelphia Phillies (28-32) lost. The Brewers will play the No. 1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers (43-17)
The Braves and Reds did not play this season because teams only played opponents within their division or the same geographic division in the other league. The Reds won the season series against the Braves 4-3 last season.
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The Reds and Braves last met in the playoffs in 1995. The Braves swept the Reds 4-0 in the National League Championship Series. That was the last season the Reds won a playoff series. They swept the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 in the first round.
The four American League wild-card series start Tuesday. The four National League wild-card series start Wednesday. There are no off days in the series. Teams will play three games in three days if the series go the distance.
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After playing best-of-three series in the first round, winners advance to neutral sites and will play best-of-five series in the divisional around. The Reds would play in Houston in the second round against the Cubs or Marlins. That series would take place Oct. 6-10.
The National League championship series will be played at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, from Oct. 12-18, and the World Series will take place at the same site from Oct. 20-28.
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