We are the Queen City of playoff bridesmaids

When Darren Lewis caught Mike Piazza's line drive for the final out of the National League Division Series, nobody had any inkling it'd be 20 years before Cincinnati fans could celebrate one of their major professional teams advancing in the playoffs.

But on Oct. 6, 2015, that's exactly how long it'll be since either the Bengals or the Reds have taken a step in their respective playoffs. With Sunday's loss by the Bengals, the city's football team has gone one-and-out in the playoffs six times, while the Reds have lost three series since being swept by the Braves in the 1995 National League Championship Series (four if you count a lost play-in game against the Mets in 1999).

While Cleveland likes to complain about its lack of titles — it hasn't won a title since 1964 when the Browns won the NFL Championship — at least they've had runs in the playoffs since then. Even in 1995, the last time a Cincinnati team advanced, Cleveland's baseball team went further, falling to Atlanta in the World Series.

No city among the 31 with at least two of the four major professional sporting leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) has a drought like Cincinnati. Among bridesmaids, we're the Queen City, if you will.

Of those 31 metropolitan areas, 19 have advanced in the playoffs in one of the four major sports since Jan. 1, 2014. If you take it back five years, 28 of the 31 cities have seen their teams win a postseason game or series. Joining Cincinnati in that run of futility are Buffalo and Toronto, and at least both of those have seen teams win in the playoffs this century.

The last Buffalo team to win a series in the playoffs was the Sabres in 2007, when they dispatched the Islanders and Rangers before falling to Ottawa in the Eastern Conference finals.

Toronto's drought goes back even longer, back to 2004 when the Maple Leafs beat Ottawa in the first round of the Stanley Cup finals and lost to Philadelphia in the Conference Semifinals.

The Reds won the city's last playoff game in 2012 at San Francisco, but after bringing home a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 National League Division Series, the team dropped three straight at Great American Ball Park to the Giants, who went on to win the World Series. The Reds were swept by the Phillies in 2010 in the NLDS and lost in Pittsburgh in the one-game Wild Card Game in 2013.

The Bengals last won a playoff game on Jan. 6, 1991, beating the Houston Oilers, before losing the next week to the Los Angeles Raiders.

But at least we're not San Diego — the city has never won a title in a major pro sport — not the Chargers, Padres or even the Clippers. All those poor San Diegans have is perfect weather, beaches and Anchorman. We at least have 1990, right?

Now that the Bengals have lost in the playoffs again, the next chance is the Reds — and the regular season ends on Oct. 4, meaning there's a chance the Wild Card Game could be on Oct. 6 — exactly 20 years since the last time a major Cincinnati pro team advanced in the playoffs.