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This coming weekend brings the last series for each team before the All-Star break. The Main Event, quite easily, is the Braves at Rays series that pits the best teams in each respective league against each other. There's quite a bout between two NL Central teams in Milwaukee, though, that deserves a good portion of our attention. 

The Brewers won Thursday afternoon and it was their eighth victory in the last 12 games. They are the colder of the two teams in this coming series, though. 

The first-place Reds also won on Thursday. Again. This time around, they beat the Nationals in extra innings, 5-4, to complete a four-game sweep. A Joey Votto RBI single tied the game in the eighth inning and then Nick Senzel decided to play star.

First, Senzel made a game-saving catch in right field. 

As the highlight shows, saying this play saved the game wasn't hyperbole. The Nationals would've walked it off if Senzel didn't catch that ball. Just a few minutes later, leading off the 10th inning, Senzel put the Reds up for good with the bat. 

For those of us who have been paying close attention the Reds these last several weeks, this wasn't all too surprising. They've been playing exceptional baseball and when something special is going on, it seems like there's a different hero each night. 

Overall, the Reds have won 20 of their last 24 and 23 of their last 29. If you're sitting there thinking it feels like this is one of the best extended stretches of baseball for the Reds in a long time, that's because you're pretty astute. Let's latch onto the last 29 games, since it's a bigger sample, and search via Stathead's amazing "span finder" to see what it kicks up. 

Here's the kind of company this team is keeping. Again, bear in mind the Reds are 23-6 since June 4. 

  • The 2012 Reds from July 6-Aug. 4 went 22-3, but they lost three games before that stretch and five in a row immediately after it. That team won 97 games. 
  • The 1995 Reds started 1-8, but then went 28-6 through June 12. That team went 85-59 in the strike-shortened season and went to the NLCS. 
  • The "wire-to-wire" 1990 Reds won the World Series. It was the last time the Reds took the title. That team started 23-7 and that was their best 30-game stretch of the season. 
  • The 1976 Reds won 102 games and the World Series. The Big Red Machine! Their best 29-game span was ... 23-6. Yep, just like this current streak. 
  • In 1975, The Big Red Machine won 108 games and the World Series. There were multiple 29-game stretches where they went 24-5, but nothing better than that. 

In fact, in all of Reds history -- it's extensive, given that this is the oldest professional baseball team -- they have never won more than 24 games in a 29-game span. This current group has won 23 of 29. 

This was a team that very few expected to be contending at this point in the season. Once the Reds started 7-15, there wasn't much reason to believe it would turn around this quickly. They were still only 26-33 after a loss on June 4, but then they caught fire and have been one of the most fun stories in baseball since. Watching games in Great American Ball Park is fun again instead of being relatively depressing. 

Now, the job is far from over. The Reds are 49-39 and in first place in the NL Central, but they only hold a two-game lead over the Brewers heading to the aforementioned weekend series. Still, only a Brewers sweep here would prevent the Reds from being in first place at the All-Star break and that's a hell of a feat. 

On the Brewers' end, this series represents a chance to grab first back before the break. They've been in first for 59 days this season, thanks in large part to an 18-9 start. 

The matchups this weekend in Milwaukee are as follows, with the Reds pitcher listed first and Brewers' second. 

Friday, 8:10 p.m. ET: LHP Andrew Abbott (4-0, 1.21) vs. RHP Corbin Burnes (6-5, 4.00)
Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET: RHP Luke Weaver (2-2, 6.72) vs. RHP Colin Rea (5-4, 4.40)
Sunday, 2:10 p.m. ET: Pitching TBA

How about Friday's battle between a rookie having a monster season and the 2021 Cy Young winner? Beautiful. The whole series is a must-watch as far as I'm concerned. 

Oh, and finally: If you don't have enough fun watching these three games, fret not. The Reds host for the Brewers for a three-game series immediately after the All-Star break.