It was another quick postseason exit for the Cincinnati Reds.
One of baseball’s most storied franchises hasn’t won a postseason series since 1995 or even a solitary game in the playoffs since 2012. Unfortunately, the Reds and their fans will have to wait at least another year for those streaks to end as they were easily swept away by the Dodgers in two games in their Wild Card series.
Perhaps that quick exit was to be expected thanks to the huge chasm between the two rosters. The Dodgers payroll almost triples the Reds. And while it was an achievement just for Cincinnati to make the postseason, Los Angeles is expected to be a World Series contender after a somewhat disappointing regular season given their starpower.
But the Reds weren’t just undone by the income inequality of Major League Baseball. They were also undone by tipping their pitches.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers, Reds star pitcher Hunter Greene was tipping his pitches in Game 1, where he allowed 5 earned runs in just 3 innings. And it was fellow ESPN analyst Eduardo Pérez who spotted it.
“When Hunter Greene gets hit that much, there’s a reason behind it.”@Buster_ESPN & @JesseRogersESPN on the Reds tipping pitches against the Dodgers. https://t.co/9smYze4k8X pic.twitter.com/YLmAkhWAWr
— ESPN Podcasts (@espnpodcasts) October 1, 2025
“We’re sitting at the hotel bar after the game, Eduardo Pérez breaks out his iPad and shows us how he’s tipping his pitches with his glove. And he talked about it and then he ran through some of the swings that the Dodgers were taking. And in Eduardo’s mind they absolutely knew every time he was going to throw a breaking ball. It’s one of the advantages of having this incredibly experienced lineup that the Dodgers have with all these guys who played in so many big games starting with Shohei Ohtani,” Olney said.
“Let me just say this, I’m no expert and you and I did not talk last night. I thought the exact same thing. In fact, I though the whole entire Reds pitching staff was tipping their pitches because they were incredible at the plate,” Rogers added.
It wasn’t just Hunter Greene either. Over the course of two games, the Dodgers racked up 18 runs against a Reds pitching staff that was pretty decent throughout the regular season. There was even some evidence during last night’s game that the Dodgers were seeing something that was making them feel good about the matchups. After looking at a quick iPad tutorial, Teoscar Hernandez hit a home run off Connor Phillips.
“The entire Reds pitching staff was tipping their pitches.”
– @JesseRogersESPN🎥 That gives new perspective to this clip from last night’s game⬇️
The Reds were making a pitching change – Bringing in Connor Phillips.
2 minutes after looking at the tablet & smiling…… https://t.co/wUKelcQTwI pic.twitter.com/iMRk7vMIPJ
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) October 2, 2025
If Eduardo Pérez could spot that Hunter Greene was tipping his pitches while in a hotel bar on the opposite side of the country, the Reds probably didn’t stand much of a chance against the Dodgers.
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