ATLANTA – When the Cincinnati Reds begin their best-of-3 series against the Atlanta Braves at noon Wednesday, their magic number is 3.
The Reds have a 30-11 record when they’ve scored at least three runs this season and a 1-18 record when they don’t reach three runs. It’s a sign of how well the Reds have pitched this season and how much the offense has struggled.
Even when the Reds were playing their best baseball of the season, winning 11 of their final 14 games, the lineup produced a .219 batting average during that stretch while averaging five runs per game.