Cardinals, Reds, Brewers are all charging hard in NL Central

All the Cincinnati Reds needed was one extended winning streak to turn a disappointing season into a possible playoff berth.

Cincinnati had high hopes after spending big in the offseason, but the Reds showed little sign of improvement until they ran off six straight victories recently. Now they’re at .500 and in a three-way tie with Milwaukee and San Francisco for the final postseason spot in the National League.

Cincinnati hosts a three-game series with the Brewers starting Monday night.

The Cincinnati pitching staff has led this resurgence. The Reds held Pittsburgh to six runs in a four-game sweep, then took two of three from the powerful Chicago White Sox. Trevor Bauer (4-4, 1.80 ERA) and Luis Castillo (3-5, 3.03) give Cincinnati a formidable starting pitching tandem. Offensively, Nick Castellanos, Eugenio Suarez, Jesse Winker and Joey Votto all have reached double-digit home runs.

Elsewhere in the NL Central, Milwaukee and St. Louis are closing strong as well, both having won four in a row. The Cardinals are in second place in the division, a game ahead of the Reds and Brewers.

Milwaukee, which made a late charge last season to earn a wild card, beat Kansas City 5-3 on Sunday. Daniel Vogelbach, who was off waivers earlier this month, hit two homers and drove in all five runs. He has hit .417 in 11 games for Milwaukee, his third team of this short season.

CAUGHT UP

Although this 2020 season has been marked by numerous postponements, the standings no longer look terribly out of whack. Every team except St. Louis has played between 52 and 55 games. Even Miami, which was shut down for a while because of problems with the coronavirus, is now 28-25 and in second place in the NL East.

The Cardinals are still a bit behind, having played only 50 games. They have a doubleheader with Milwaukee scheduled Friday and might also have to play one or two games against Detroit, depending on the state of the postseason picture.