Reds beat Braves ahead of MLB transfer deadline

ATLANTA — Cincinnati Reds executives were quick to backtrack Monday on a report that surfaced after they were blown out in Washington over the weekend, stating that their trade deadline had changed and that they were telling teams they had loanees to sell.

“We talked to everyone,” said team president Nick Krall, “but we haven’t gone down any specific path.”

Team officials say they’re still in a wait-and-see mode during this nine-game road stretch following the All-Star break before deciding how things will stand in a week.

Monday’s series opener in Atlanta against the top team in the National League wild-card standings is the reason.

After an admittedly disappointing sweep, the Reds secured a 4-1 victory thanks to the All-Star pitching of Hunter Greene and an early lightning-fast performance from Elly De La Cruz.

Another win over what looks like a certain playoff team — albeit one without injured stars Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies — for a Reds team that has also won season series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.

Good luck figuring out if this team is good enough to bounce all the way back and make the playoffs, or if it would be better to sell some of those short-term players like pitchers Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez.

“From a player standpoint, we’re obviously in a lot of trouble right now,” said Martinez, who was expected to get the majority of the innings on Tuesday’s bullpen day against the Braves.

General manager Brad Meador said before the opening game of the Washington series that he believed the Reds were a playoff team and that he hoped to help with one or two additions at the July 30 deadline.

What wasn’t said was that a slap in the face during this three-city tour would mean switching into sales mode.

“We didn’t get off to a good start there,” Martinez said. “We’ve got to keep playing hard and finding ways to win games, especially now. We’ve got to play with some urgency if we want to make the playoffs.”

Or even remain intact after next week.

It’s hard to be certain about the outcome of the NL wild-card mess: Even after the disappointing win in Washington, the Reds were just four games out of a playoff spot. In those three days, they had lost just one game.

“I don’t even care,” manager David Bell said. “And none of our players care. It’s got to be as narrow as, like, one field at a time. There’s literally no other way to do it.

“If I give you answers that don’t answer the question, it’s because I believe in them so passionately.”

That doesn’t change baseball’s position on the calendar and the Reds are in the standings.

Even when they are on par with the competition

“Sometimes teams play best when their backs are against the wall,” Martinez said. “I would put us in that category.

“Another reason I would never really write us off: We have the ability to bounce back, fight and get going,” he added. “We’re going to keep fighting, keep playing hard and see what the front office decides to do on July 30th and then kind of reevaluate.”