CLEVELAND -- The Reds playoff hopes are sputtering into the final weekend of the regular season as they've reached the desperation stage. In another must-win game on Wednesday, rookie starter Andrew Abbott pitched like he was out of gas.

Abbott lasted only 2 1/3 innings as Cincinnati was handed a 4-3 loss by Cleveland to split the two-game series at Progressive Field.

“He gave everything he had," Reds manager David Bell said. "At this time of year, that’s all you can do. Hopefully we see him pitch again this season. No matter what, it’s been really a great year for him all the way around.”

• Games remaining (3): at STL (3)
• Standings update: The Reds (81-78) are 1 1/2 games behind the Marlins (82-76) for the third NL Wild Card spot. The Marlins and Cubs (82-76) are mathematically tied, but the Marlins hold the tiebreaker against the Cubs. The Reds hold the tiebreaker against the Cubs. Miami has the tiebreaker on the Reds based on intradivision record, as the clubs went 3-3 against each other this season.

In the bottom of the second inning, Abbott opened by allowing five straight hits with RBI singles by Tyler Freeman and Brayan Rocchio giving Cleveland a 2-0 lead. Two of Abbott's three outs in the inning came via runners getting thrown out on the bases.

Abbott gave up two more hits in the third inning, with Josh Naylor's RBI single to right field putting the Guardians up by three runs and ending the lefty pitcher's night. Overall, Abbott allowed three earned runs and eight hits with one strikeout while throwing 45 pitches.

“They were putting good swings on pitches. No execution," Abbott said. "Tried to get fastballs up, was leaving them down across the middle of the plate. I really only hurt myself in those situations when you can’t execute. They took advantage of them.”

In 21 starts during his rookie season, Abbott is 8-6 with a 3.87 ERA. Combined for the Minors and Majors, he threw 163 1/3 innings, well beyond his previous high of 118 innings in 2022. 

The workload's toll has been more visible over the last month. Abbott, who opened his big league career with a 1.90 ERA over his first 10 starts, is 0-3 with a 6.43 ERA over his last seven games while working six innings once.

Noting he still felt good, Abbott made no excuses.

“My job has just been the same this whole season, just go out and try and compete," Abbott said. "Some days you don’t have it and you kind of just have to continue to try and go and eat up innings as best you can, however you can. It just wasn’t one of those nights.”

If the Reds can get into the postseason, Abbott could still be their Game 1 starter in the Wild Card series. 

“He had a couple of tough starts where he didn’t get the results that he wanted but he handled it like a grown-up and he gave us everything he had," catcher Luke Maile said.

Cincinnati was trailing, 4-0, after four innings but inched back into the game. Jonathan India hit a one-out double in the sixth inning and scored on TJ Friedl's RBI single to center field against Shane Bieber. India's RBI double in the eighth inning and an RBI groundout by Spencer Steer pulled the Reds to within one run.

The club kept true to its aggressive style throughout and were burned a couple of times.

Elly De La Cruz was on second base with two outs in the fifth inning when Will Benson hit a grounder off the glove of Naylor. As De La Cruz was waved around to score, the ball bounced right to Rocchio near second base. As De La Cruz slid headfirst into home, a perfect throw came for the third out.

In the ninth inning, Noelvi Marte hit a single to right field and hustled to second base. Ramón Laureano made a superb throw to get Marte, despite it appearing he beat the tag. The call stood after the Reds challenged.

“We played our [butts] off. There’s a lot to be proud of in that game. We didn’t hand anything to those guys," Maile said.

With the elimination number at 3, the Reds must sweep the Cardinals and then keep fingers crossed for some help. While Cincinnati is off on Thursday, the Cubs finish their series at Atlanta before finishing the season against the NL Central division champion Brewers. The Marlins play the Mets on Thursday and play the Pirates in their last series.

“There’s nothing we can do about it tomorrow. Tonight, we did everything we could," Bell said. "Come Friday, there’s not going to be any sort of difference in our approach. It will be the exact same team, approaching it the same way and we see what happens this weekend.”