After difficult season openers, Reds, FC Cincinnati begin to rack up the wins
There are many things that can be turbulent about the experience of living in Cincinnati.
This can involve the notoriously ever-changing weather conditions that vary from day to day, the hazards from the Ohio River marked by a year full of bridge closures and flooding, or even just the literal physical turbulence of potholes that always inexplicably seem to find their way onto area streets.
However, one of the most turbulent experiences of all may be following Cincinnati sports.
Both FC Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Reds have so far proven this to be the case this spring in only just the first few weeks of their respective seasons.
First, there's FC Cincinnati, who opened their season on Feb. 22 against the New York Red Bulls to sky-high expectations.
This is largely due to the team's acquisition of Kévin Denkey and Evander da Silva Ferreira (known more commonly to fans by just his first name of "Evander"), early on in the season.
Oh, if only it were that simple.
While the Orange and Blue won their first game of the season, the team quickly hit a solid brick wall in momentum after that.
Afterwards, the team got walloped by Philadelphia Union in their very next game and would go on to lose to Charlotte FC not long after in similarly dramatic fashion.
To add insult to injury, the team would get eliminated from the Concacaf Champions Cup in-between those two games, after losing to Mexican club Tigres UANL in a 3-1 loss.
If that wasn't enough, the team was also on the verge of winning against Atlanta United FC during a mid-March game, before defender Alvas Powell scored an own-goal in the 88th minute of the game, forcing Cincinnati to settle for a draw.
On the positive side, the team did beat Toronto FC during this period of time, although the Canadian team is widely regarded to be among the worst in the MLS this year, and has so far still not won any of its games this season.
Now, a change to this momentum finally seems to have come on March 29, when the Orange and Blue racked up a 2-1 win against Nashville SC. In the two subsequent weeks since, FC Cincinnati has now seemingly started to be getting into a groove that has allowed them to continue their winning streak into early April.
After the Cincinnati's win against D.C. United on Saturday, the team has now won three games in a row, vaulting them into a tie for second place in the MLS's Eastern Conference after this weekend's round of games. Regional rival the Columbus Crew leads the conference, while Charlotte FC ties Cincinnati for the second spot.
Meanwhile, at the same exact time, a similar phenomenon also appears to be happening over at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds, after persistently being caught in a trap for the past decade where the team has seemed unable to make the postseason no matter what they have tried, started this spring with arguably the highest expectations by fans in years. This is in no small part due to the team's decision to hire two-time World Series-winning manager Terry Francona.
And for almost all of Opening Day, things were going exactly the Reds' way. Until they weren't.
This was due to the San Francisco Giants coming back in the ninth inning to surpass the Reds for a last-minute win, despite the Reds leading for the first eight innings of the game. Despite the team's best attempts, the Reds' defense ultimately couldn't fend off this late-game four run push by the Giants, and would send a packed stadium full of Reds fans home feeling disappointed after a 6-4 loss.
The team's fortunes largely remained the same during the rest of the team's series against the Giants, as well as the next two series against the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers. While none of the three series were total sweeps, the team did leave with a 3-7 record by the end of their matchups with the three teams.
Now, the Reds, like FC Cincinnati, appears to be making a dramatic turnaround.
This started last week as the Reds flew out to San Francisco to face the Giants for a rematch series at Oracle Park. Upon arrival, the team immediately racked up two back-to-back wins, laying claim to their first series win.
And while the team would lose their third game against the Giants in a late-game comeback by the Giants that was reminiscent of Opening Day, unlike last time, the losses wouldn't persist. The Reds soon flew home and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in all three of their scheduled games together, marking the team's first sweep. This was capped off on Sunday with a clean 4-0 victory by the team.
In just a few days, the team has now gone from a 3-7 record to a 8-8 record. This is a dramatic turnaround in just a short period of time, going from the bottom of the MLB's standings into a competitive position once again in only about a week. At the time that the Reds finished their series with the Brewers, they were tied for last in the National League Central division with the Pirates. Now, a week later, the team is tied for second place in the division with the Brewers.
The Chicago Cubs lead the division, while the Cardinals are in third place. The Pirates remain in last.
It's entirely possible (and probably even likely) that FC Cincinnati and the Reds' fortunes may shift once again as the soccer and baseball seasons continue to unfold. It still remains the early days of the season for both teams, after all. However, even so, it has been a remarkable turnaround for the two teams in a very short period of time.