The winning streak came to an end at 12 games for the Cincinnati Reds. Atlanta grabbed another early lead on Saturday afternoon and the Reds rally fell just short of completing yet another comeback as the Braves held on 7-6.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves (49-27) |
7 | 14 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (41-36) |
6 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Tonkin (4-2) L: Ashcraft (3-6) SV: Iglesias (11) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Graham Ashcraft was struggling with his control in the 1st inning. He hit Ronald Acuna Jr. and almost hit Ozzie Albies, who reached on catchers interference. But he got out of the inning unscathed on a circus catch by Nick Senzel who misread the ball, got turned around, then recovered to make a leaping catch that he snowconed to end the inning. Ashcraft wasn’t as lucky in the next inning as Travis d’Arnaud hit a solo homer into the seats in right field to put Atlanta up 1-0.
It didn’t get better in the 3rd inning. Ozzie Albies led off with a home run that nearly left the stadium down the line. Matt Olson would smack a 1-out double and then score on a Marcell Ozuna single as the Braves made it 3-0. Cincinnati got that back in the bottom of the inning after TJ Friedl led off with a single and then scored on a 2-out 2-run homer from Matt McLain that cut the lead for Atlanta down to a run.
Graham Ashcraft retired the first two batters of the top of the 4th, but then Ozzie Albies singled, stole second base, and scored when Austin Riley doubled. Matt Olson then followed up with a 2-run homer to make it 6-2. It was Olson’s third homer in the last 24 hours. Cincinnati played the “repeater” game in their half of the inning as Elly De La Cruz singled to lead off the inning and scored when Spencer Steer homered off of the scoreboard ribbon in left field to make it a 2-run game. Joey Votto followed up with a single, and Curt Casali extended the inning with a 2-out single, but the Reds would strand two runners to end the inning.
After giving up a leadoff single in the 5th inning the Reds made a call to the bullpen to bring in Fernando Cruz. He would pick up a strikeout and then a grounder that turned into an inning-ending double play. Elly De La Cruz would walk with two out in the bottom of the inning, steal second, and then take third when the thrown down to the bag got away, but he’d be stranded at third base.
Both teams would walk in their half of the 6th but get nothing going from there. Alex Young then entered for the top of the 7th inning. After getting Matt Olson to ground out he would give up a homer to Marcell Ozuna as the Braves extended their lead to 7-4. After a 2-out walk to Eddie Rosario the Reds called on Daniel Duarte to come into the game. He needed one pitch to get a ground out to end the inning.
Silvino Bracho took over for Cincinnati in the top of the 8th inning. He gave up a 1-out single to Ronald Acuna Jr., who then stole second base. With two outs Austin Riley hit a chopper that Elly De La Cruz charged from short and fielded, but had no play at first and instead of making a throw there he fired home as Acuna Jr. was trying to steal a run by rounding third but he was out by 15 feet and didn’t even attempt to get in a run down as Luke Maile walked up the line to tag him to end the inning.
The Reds went down in order in the bottom of the 8th inning. Bracho returned for the 9th inning and worked around a walk and a single to send the game to the bottom of the 9th with Atlanta leading 7-4.
Raisel Iglesias entered the game to face his former team for the first time in his career. TJ Friedl struck out to begin the inning, but then Jake Fraley crushed a solo homer to make it a 7-5 game. The Reds then called on Will Benson to pinch hit for Kevin Newman and he also crushed a solo home run to make it 7-6. Matt McLain struck out, leaving the game up to Jonathan India to extend. Iglesias came out on top as he picked up a strikeout to end the game and the Reds 12-game winning streak.
Key Moment of the Game
Marcell Ozuna’s solo home run in the 7th inning that would eventually turn out to be the winning run for the Braves.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz extended his hitting streak to seven games. He’s now hitting .359/.423/.641 on the season with eight steals in 16 games played.
Matt McLain had been 1-11 in his last four games, but he broke out of that mini slump with a 2-hit day that including a homer. The rookie infielder is hitting .309/.367/.493 through his first 36 games this year.
Jake Fraley’s hot June continued. He came off of the bench and went 1-2 with a homer. He’s now hitting .368/.455/.868 in 12 games during the month. Fraley’s played in 12 games in June and has hits in nine of them – the three that he doesn’t were games when he came off of the bench to pinch hit or pinch run.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Atlanta Braves vs Cincinnati Reds
Sunday June 25th, 1:40pm ET
Charlie Morton (6-6, 3.71 ERA) vs TBA
