CINCINNATI — Could the cockroaches be back in Cincinnati?
Last September, Jordyn Pagán, the wife of Cincinnati Reds closer Emilio Pagán, wore an inflatable cockroach costume during the team’s celebration for clinching a playoff spot in an homage to the team’s self-imposed nickname denoting its ability to survive.
The Reds were declared dead several times in 2025, and when a three-game sweep in September at the hands of the Athletics in Sacramento pushed them to a game under .500 with 13 games left, it felt like the final nail in the team’s postseason hopes.
The Reds beat the A’s 6-5 to complete a three-game sweep of that same franchise Thursday — a bit of symmetry that wasn’t lost on Emilio Pagán. He recorded saves in the first two games of the series, then took a minute to address teammates following the third game that saw the Reds improve to 12-6 since the All-Star break and 56-58 overall.
Pagán’s message was short, but important: Keep doing what you’re doing.
“Last year, we were written off, and we went on a pretty good run to finish the year and got into the dance,” Pagán said. “We’ve been written off now for a while for this year, but this team proved last year we don’t quit.”
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Pagán saw the outfielders working with coach Collin Cowgill before games last week, then later watched center fielder Dane Myers make a game-saving catch at the wall while he was on the mound Tuesday. This week, he saw rookie Sal Stewart work with coaches Freddie Benavides and Mike Napoli on scooping the ball at first base and struggling to do so earlier in the series, then watched him do it in the ninth inning Thursday for the game’s penultimate out.
“I messed up, I could have made some picks that I didn’t, and that’s on me,” Stewart said of his miscues at first. “No one else to blame but myself. So I had to get out there and keep on working at it.”
That’s the exact attitude Pagán has seen throughout the clubhouse, which is why he is bullish on the team’s chances to win each day.
“What I was trying to say (Thursday), when we work on things like that, we’re not just working on it because,” Pagán said. “It was just a reminder that when doing that stuff, take it seriously because we’re going to get an opportunity to show that we’ve worked on it and give us a chance to be successful and be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
This version of the Reds has learned about comebacks, having trailed in seven of their last 10 victories, including Thursday.
After starter Andrew Abbott gave up three runs in the fourth inning to put the Reds behind 3-1, Stewart asked manager Terry Francona if he wanted him to take the first pitch.
“Sometimes after a long inning, you try to have a long inning and give our pitcher a breather,” Stewart explained.
Francona responded, “I want you to hit one into the seats in right field stands.”
Stewart took the first pitch for a ball, but then jumped on the second, a four-seam fastball, and hit it into the stands in left-center, his 25th home run of the season. That topped Joey Votto for the second-most homers by a Reds rookie, behind only Frank Robinson (38 in 1956).
“He never listens to me anyway,” Francona joked.
Catcher Tyler Stephenson tied the game a batter later with his 10th home run and fourth since the All-Star break. The Reds took the lead the next inning when reliever Elvis Alvarado walked in a pair of runs with the bases loaded. Former Athletic JJ Bleday added a solo home run in the seventh, an add-on that ended up being the game-winner after the A’s Brian Serven hit a two-run home run in the ninth.
The A’s didn’t offer Bleday a contract after last season, allowing the Reds to sign him as a free agent. The home run was Bleday’s 20th this season, tying his career-best mark set with the A’s in 2024.
“There’s always going to be nerves, awkwardness — whatever you want to call it — with those situations, but right now I’m happy to be Red,” Bleday said. “I wake up and thank God every day that I’m in Cincinnati.”
Teammates congratulate JJ Bleday after he hit a solo home run during the seventh inning Thursday against the Athletics at Great American Ball Park. (Kirk Irwin / Getty Images)
Abbott picked up his sixth win, allowing just those three runs in the fourth. More importantly, he pitched into the seventh inning the day after he was moved up in the rotation when Hunter Greene went on the IL with right elbow soreness.
Abbott was scheduled to start Friday’s series-opener against the Washington Nationals, but Greene’s injury meant the Reds needed to go with a bullpen game either Thursday or Friday. With Monday an off day, Abbott was on five days’ rest, and he thought he’d be able to go longer and match up better against the A’s left-handed-heavy lineup.
“I really just wanted to give the bullpen as much of a break as possible because it’s tough throwing a night game at 6:40 and turning around and throwing at 12:40 the next day,” Abbott said.
The Reds still have a tough road ahead, not only with a bullpen game Friday, but after a day off Monday, the Reds play 17 games in 16 days in three time zones.
After a day off Aug. 27, the Reds have 28 games remaining, with 25 of those against teams currently in playoff spots. The only three games on the schedule in September against a non-playoff team come in the season-ending series in Toronto against last year’s American League champions.
The Reds’ postseason odds are still just 3 percent, according to FanGraphs, but they’ve faced that before, and Francona said he’s seen buy-in from the team all year.
“That’s probably why I get protective of these guys because I see that way more than maybe (outside) people notice,” Francona said. “I see the things like when (catcher) Jose Trevino was down, Tyler Stephenson saying ‘I’ll catch every day.’ Things like that, even when he wasn’t hitting. It’s a good group, and I think I was pretty consistent with that even when things weren’t going so good.”
With Thursday’s win and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds moved out of last place in the National League Central for the first time since May and within five games of the wild card.
“We’ve almost got back to .500, so we still have a long way to go,” Pagán said. “We’re not asking anybody to celebrate for us right now, but we’re playing good baseball.”
