Ohio Cup yuks over as Cincinnati Reds head to Detroit after win streak snapped by Guards

CLEVELAND – Now it gets real.

Or at least the schedule does like it hasn’t all season.

And just maybe that means the Cincinnati Reds will get a chance to find out how real they are as a National League playoff threat this season.

“It’s a good check to see where we’re at, right?” said Nick Martinez, who starts Friday in Detroit when the Reds open a three-game series against the team with the best record in the majors.

“It’s gonna show what areas we need to work on, what areas we excel at,” he said. “I expect a good, hard-fought series.”

Even after Wednesday’s 11-2 loss to the Guardians in Cleveland that snapped a five-game winning streak, the Reds are coming off back-to-back series wins as they take on a Tigers team that has wins in 11 of its last 15 (through Tuesday, June 10).

“I think it’s exciting,” said Spencer Steer. “It’ll be fun.”

“Is Tarik (Skubal) pitching?” Matt McLain said.

“I hope so,” Steer said.

No such "luck" for the Reds, who miss the reigning American League Cy Young winner, who beat them 5-1 in Cincinnati last year with seven strong innings.

Wednesday’s loss notwithstanding, the Reds have generally played some of their better baseball of the season more recently to push their season record back above sea level after taking the season series from Cleveland, including two of three this week, and sweeping the Diamondbacks at home over the weekend.

Leadoff man TJ Friedl, who homered Monday and Wednesday and robbed an extra-base hit Tuesday with a wall-banging catch, pointed to Sunday’s rout of the Diamondbacks to finish that sweep as an indicator “of how good this team is and our potential,” he said.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a big series against Arizona in his return from the injured list, and long-slumping McLain’s bat is showing signs of stirring.

“It just shows the depth we have and how good we are.”

They might even get reinforcements Friday as cleanup hitter Austin Hays (.303, six home runs, 31 games) nears a return from a badly bruised left foot. The Reds plan to evaluate him for possible activation before Friday's game.

The depth, with or without Hays, gets a test not only this weekend from the Tigers but in series to follow against playoff-positioned Minnesota, then the Cardinals, Yankees, Padres, and road sets in Boston and Philadelphia.

“The best teams in the game don’t focus on who their opponent is, and I think we’ve worked really hard to get to that point,” closer Emilio Pagán said. “Obviously, we respect our opponent, and Detroit is off to an incredible start. But other than the scouting report on them, we’re really just trying to be hyper focused on us.

“When we’ve played our best is when we’re focused internally. The trick is to do that as much as possible.”

Meanwhile, the yuks and giggles over the Ohio Cup/"America's Cup" this week fade quickly to the background after the Reds tied their best season record against their cross-state rivals since interleague play began, their 5-1 season mark matching their 2008 success.

With Guardians lefty Logan Allen pitching Wednesday (six innings to earn a win), this year's Frank Robinson Most Outstanding Player (MOP) winner didn't even play, perhaps underscoring Will Benson's impact in the series. He went 9-for-19 (.474) with four home runs in the five wins.

Andrew Abbott, who pitched 14 scoreless innings across two starts against Cleveland, also received vote(s).

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds head into teeth of Tigers after win streak snapped