ATLANTA — The Reds spent most of Thursday night recovering from one ugly inning, then survived one tense ninth to beat the Braves 7-6 at Truist Park and take two of three from the National League East champions.
Carlos Jorge put Cincinnati ahead before most fans had settled into their seats, driving Tyler Mahle’s second pitch of the game over the right-field wall for his first major league home run—and the second lead-off home run for the Reds in the series. The lead lasted only a few minutes. Atlanta sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and scored four times against Brady Singer, using sacrifice flies by Matt Olson and Austin Riley, a Michael Harris II double and an Ozzie Albies single.
The Reds did not panic, which was helpful because Singer never found much comfort. Héctor Rodríguez doubled to begin the second and scored on Matt McLain’s single. Elly De La Cruz then opened the third with his 30th home run, and Eugenio Suárez followed later in the inning with a two-run single that brought home Sal Stewart and Tyler Stephenson for a 5-4 Cincinnati lead.
Riley answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the third, and Atlanta went back in front in the fifth when Mauricio Dubón singled, stole second and scored on Mike Yastrzemski’s two-out single. The Braves threatened to do more after Connor Phillips walked two batters to load the bases, but Drake Baldwin lined out to De La Cruz to end the inning.
That escape mattered because Rodríguez delivered the decisive swing in the sixth. After Suárez was hit by a pitch, Rodríguez launched a two-run homer to right field off AJ Smith-Shawver for a 7-6 lead. Smith-Shawver took the loss after allowing two runs in two innings, while the rookie center fielder finished 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs.
Phillips earned the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Tejay Antone and Brock Burke handled the seventh and eighth. Emilio Pagán allowed a leadoff single to Harris in the ninth. Dubón moved Harris to second with a sacrifice bunt, and a wild pitch on Albies’ strikeout sent him to third. Pagán then got Yastrzemski to fly out to Jorge, earning his 25th save.
Singer allowed five runs on seven hits in three innings, but Cincinnati’s bullpen limited Atlanta to one run over the final six. The Braves finished with 12 hits to the Reds’ seven, yet Cincinnati made its biggest swings count and improved to 74-85.
What’s Next
The Reds open their final series of the season Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Nick Lodolo is scheduled to start the 7:07 p.m. game, which will air on Reds.TV.
