There’s no magical story of how the Cincinnati Reds responded to their six-game losing streak with five consecutive wins. There was no emotional speech, players-only meeting or series of big adjustments that followed the lowest point of the Reds’ season since April.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Reds got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers and fell out of first place in the NL Central. Then last Tuesday, the Reds suffered two devastating late-game losses in a doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants.
The Reds’ offense looked worse than it had in months. They weren’t taking advantage of some of their best pitching of the season.