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.

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 − 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.

CINCINNATI — The Rays continued their majors’-worst skid with a 2-1 loss to the Reds on Sunday. The defeat was the 18th in their last 25 games, coming after a 25-9 run during which they had the best record in the league.

For a while on Friday night, things were going pretty well for the Tampa Bay Rays in their 7-2 series-opening loss against the Cincinnati Reds. The Rays enjoyed

The Reds' hat was blue with a red wishbone "C" intended to call upon Reds uniforms from 1947-54, according to multiple reports. 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 "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.

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.

The Tampa Bay Rays are struggling, and if they sell at the deadline, the Boston Red Sox seem like an ideal fit for Yandy Diaz, ESPN's Buster Olney says.

The Tampa Bay Rays (53-50) and Cincinnati Reds (53-50) open a 3-game series Friday. First pitch from Great American Ball Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's MLB odds around the Rays vs. Reds odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

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.