Ever-optimistic Reds aim to send A's to 12th consecutive series loss

Cincinnati closer Emilio Pagan coined the expression "make it weird" to reflect the attitude of the players who were hoping to make it difficult for the Reds to trade away multiple players in a fire sale at the trade deadline.

With only role players Nathaniel Lowe and Caleb Ferguson gone in deals, Pagan can continue to dream about a longshot charge at a playoff spot. The improving Reds will try to boost their cause when they seek a second straight win over the visiting Athletics on Wednesday.

The Reds rallied Tuesday night for a 5-4 victory over the Athletics in the series opener, taking advantage of three wild pitches and three walks from A's pitching in the eighth inning to improve to 11-6 since the break.

Pagan said after recording the save on Tuesday that the Cincinnati veterans haven't given up on the postseason.

With a rotation of Hunter Greene, Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer and Rhett Lowder, and with Nick Lodolo working his way back from an injured-list stint caused by a finger blister, the Reds are five games out of the third and final wild-card National League spot.

"Why not? That's why we're here, right? We're here to win games," Pagan said. "And the second part of that is we're behind the 8-ball, and that's on us. But we've got a lot of baseball left. We've got winnable games coming up with our starting rotation.

"We've got a rotation that can pitch us to the playoffs, and so that's something we talked about ... in our (post-trade deadline) meeting. If those guys keep putting up zeros and give our offense a chance, we're going to be in a good spot."

The Athletics, on the other hand, have had the bottom of their season completely fall out.

Not only have they dropped six straight, but the Athletics are 5-26 since June 27 and 19-44 since opening the season 26-24. If they lose Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game set, they would drop their 12th consecutive series.

"Our plan has always been about growing this group together," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "We have high belief in the young men we have in this room, and having the deadline pass means we can block out the noise and lock in for the final two months."

One of the bright spots for the Athletics of late has been the play of Jeff McNeil. The veteran infielder went 2-for-4 with an RBI on Tuesday, raising his average to .254. McNeil is batting .413 (19-for-46) since the All-Star break, with a homer and nine RBIs in 15 games.

The Athletics will hand the ball to left-hander Jacob Lopez (5-4, 5.79 ERA) on Wednesday. Making his 15th start of the season and his fourth since returning from Triple-A, Lopez has been in excellent form recently. He surrendered just three earned runs over his past 16 1/3 innings.

The Reds will counter with Lowder (3-7, 5.42), making his fourth start since rejoining the rotation. The right-hander's season numbers are inflated due to a trio of rough outings where he was tagged for six or more runs.

Lowder hasn't earned a win since April 20, going 0-6 with a 6.67 ERA in his past 14 outings (11 starts). He was sharp in his most recent appearance, though, limiting the Pittsburgh Pirates to two runs on five hits over six innings during a no-decision on Thursday.

--Field Level Media