It has been more than 4,000 days since the Cincinnati Reds last showed up on Sunday Night Baseball, and that drought finally ends today.
There are obvious reasons the club has gone so long without the spotlight. The Reds simply have not been good enough for long stretches, and the last time they won 90 or more games was the 2013 season. But the gap is still staggering.
From April 1990 until September 2025, Sunday Night Baseball lived on ESPN, and the scheduling often tilted toward the sport’s biggest markets. That helped create a noticeable imbalance in the number of primetime games handed to teams in places like New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago compared with cities such as Milwaukee and Cincinnati.
When ESPN stepped away from Sunday night coverage, NBC picked up the tradition of primetime baseball on Sundays. NBC said it would make a point of featuring all 30 MLB teams during its coverage.
The Reds’ last Sunday Night Baseball appearance came on June 14, 2015, when they played the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Cincinnati started right-hander Anthony Desclafani, while the Cubs countered with Jon Lester.
The Reds entered that game 28-34, and the Cubs were 34-27. Chicago won 2-1 in 11 innings on a walk-off RBI single from Starlin Castro that scored Chris Coughlan.
That Reds lineup had plenty of familiar names: Brandon Phillips, Todd Frazier, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brayan Pena, Billy Hamilton and Eugenio Suarez, who was playing shortstop. The Cubs’ side featured Dexter Fowler, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Chris Couglan, Starlin Castro and David Ross.
Billy Hamilton also had a night to remember, stealing a career-high five bases while hitting ninth in the order.
There was one tense moment, too. First-base umpire Ron Kulpa was struck in the shoulder by an errant warm-up pitch from Aroldis Chapman while Chapman was loosening up in the bullpen. Kulpa was checked by a trainer and stayed in the game.
That 2015 Cubs team went on to win 97 games, finish third in the National League Central, reach the postseason as a Wild Card team and advance all the way to the National League Championship Series, where they lost to the NY Mets. The 2015 Reds finished 64-98 and ended up last in the NL Central.
It has also been even longer since Cincinnati hosted Sunday night baseball. Great American Ballpark last saw it on May 25, 2014, when the Reds hosted the St Louis Cardinals. That night was memorable enough that Reds superfan Charlie Sheen appeared on the ESPN broadcast to talk Reds baseball.
Now the Reds finally get to break the Sunday night drought, even if it comes with a terrible 2026 season attached to it. And maybe someday Great American Ballpark will host Sunday Night Baseball again.
In Other News...
Elly De La Cruz Exit Just Raised The Stakes For The Reds
Elly De La Cruzs night ended early against the Chicago Cubs after he left with tightness in his left quad, a development the Reds did not need in the middle of a game that already carried plenty of attention. Ivan Johnson took over for him in the seventh inning, giving Cincinnati an immediate look at how it would handle the rest of the matchup without one of its most dynamic players on the field.
Terry Francona is expected to have more to say after the game, and for the Reds, the real concern now is whether this is just a short-term hiccup or something that lingers. De La Cruz has become too central to what Cincinnati does to treat any lower-body issue lightly, so even a precautionary exit will be watched closely once the postgame update arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Elly De La Cruz Just Put Cincinnatis Stretch Run In Doubt
Elly De La Cruz leaving Tuesdays game against the Cubs with an apparent left quad injury was the kind of development the Reds could not afford at this point in the season. The team confirmed the injury on social media, and it comes with the September schedule tightening around them and a run of playoff-contending opponents looming.
For Cincinnati, the concern is bigger than one night out of the lineup. De La Cruz has now dealt with the same quad issue in back-to-back seasons, and he has already missed time this year with a hamstring injury, so every new setback adds another layer of uncertainty to the stretch run. The Reds have been trying to keep pace in a crowded race, and losing their most dynamic player would make an already difficult closing month even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Deadline Fallout Just Took Another Brutal Turn
The Reds trade deadline shuffle already looked like a mixed bag, and it has only gotten messier in the days since. Cincinnati moved Nathaniel Lowe to the Guardians and Caleb Ferguson to the Cardinals, hoping to reshape the roster for the stretch run, but the early returns have not done the club many favors.
Fergusons rough stay in St. Louis ended with his release, underscoring how quickly a deadline move can turn from useful depth to a dead end. Around the same time, Carson Spiers began a rehab assignment as he works his way back from injury, while former draft pick Hunter Hollan was released from the organization, adding another reminder that the Reds are still sorting through the fallout of a deadline built on uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]