The reigning Premier League champions continue preparations to defend their title on Saturday (7:30 am ET), when Liverpool take on Serie A giants AC Milan in Hong Kong.

Martinez went on to say the trade deadline was motivation for the 2025 Reds, who stood at 54-50 after Friday's victory and one game back of the San Diego Padres for the third National League Wild Card.

Trade Deadline winds are blowing stronger with moves starting to happen around Major League Baseball the past couple of days. For the Reds, the time is ripe for catching a breeze to both stay in the postseason hunt and position themselves for dealing before Thursday.

"One rival executive proclaimed the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants should be aggressive buyers," Rosenthal wrote, "saying it's 'open season' on the third NL wild card because of the San Diego Padres' uncertain hold on the position."

There's belief around MLB that the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds should be among the teams looking to make major additions ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.

In honor of the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction festivities taking place in Cooperstown, New York, each team wore a retro-style hat with a Hall of Fame patch on the side. For Cincinnati and Tampa Bay, they donned their hats on July 26. The Reds' hat was blue was a wishbone "C" larger than what they typically wear.

The Reds activated relief pitcher Scott Barlow from the paternity list on Saturday and sent rookie right-hander Luis Mey back down to Triple-A Louisville. Barlow, who went on the paternity list on Friday, missed just one game.