If they weren't before, the Cincinnati Reds are now officially rolling. The Reds ascended to a new high-water mark in 2025 − six games over .500 at 56-50 − as they completed a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays with a 2-1 win on July 27 at Great American Ball Park. It was also four consecutive wins for Cincinnati.

Brady Singer took a shutout into the eighth inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Sunday for their fourth straight victory.

Tony Santillan took over and struck out Matt Thaiss and got Chandler Simpson to fly out to end the inning. Ex-Ray Emilio Pagan closed it out for the Reds, striking out Yandy Diaz, while getting Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero to fly out. The Rays finished with just three hits on the day.

The Reds' hat was blue with a red wishbone "C" intended to call upon Reds uniforms from 1947-54. The Rays wore a black hat that contrasted against the navy uniform tops they wore on Saturday. The front of the cap featured Tampa's original green and yellow "TB" logo from their 1998 expansion season.

But as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, that seems like the much more likely outcome. In the past month, the Red Sox have gotten scorching hot and the Rays have fallen all the way down to 53-52, right on the border of "sell" territory.

In the bottom of the sixth, Taylor Walls made a costly two-run error to give the Reds the lead. Josh Lowe had a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the seventh to pull the Rays even at 2.

Martinez went on to say the trade deadline was motivation for the 2025 Reds, who stood at 54-50 after Friday's victory and one game back of the San Diego Padres for the third National League Wild Card.

Ryan Pepiot was dealing. The Tampa Bay pitcher has breezed through five scoreless innings, and was about to get through the sixth with a lead