Sunday’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds couldn’t have started much better for the Atlanta Braves.
From there, though, it was a relative disappointment compared to the two strong wins to begin the weekend.
Although Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a first-pitch homer — his fifth in the last four games — the Braves fell 6-4 at the Great American Ballpark Sunday afternoon, failing to come away with their first sweep since the Colorado series May 1-3.
The top of the lineup produced in a
big way. Acuña homered for the fourth straight game and tacked on an RBI single in the ninth, finishing 2-for-3 with two walks.
Michael Harris II, hitting in the two-hole, also reached base with two hits and two walks, his first multi-walk game since last May.
But Matt Olson was 0-for-5 and the bottom seven hitters in the lineup had a combined three hits.
The lead off Acuña’s homer didn’t last long, as Spencer Strider allowed a JJ Bleday RBI double after Elly De La Cruz’s single one out into the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1.
The Reds then took a 2-1 lead in the third on another RBI double by Bleday — his fifth RBI of this series — and added on with Will Benson’s fourth-inning RBI double which made it 3-1.
The way the game played out from there proved frustrating for the Braves. They cut the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the fifth on Jorge Mateo’s second homer in as many days, but Cincinnati got the run right back on a Eugenio Suarez sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
Atlanta again made it a one-run game, 4-3, on Austin Riley’s sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, but that proved to be the only run the Braves got out of their bases-loaded, one-out situation.
Again, the Reds got the run right back, extending their lead to two on P.J. Higgins’ RBI double in the bottom of the inning.
Cincinnati then tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a Suarez solo homer.
It wasn’t a bad outing by Strider (3-1) by any means. And yet, it was quite possibly his worst of the season and resulted in his first loss of the campaign. He allowed a season-high seven hits and four runs (three earned), albeit while tying his season low with two walks while striking out eight.
Didier Fuentes and Dylan Dodd didn’t help matters by allowing a run apiece in the sixth and seventh innings.
For Fuentes, Higgins’ run-scoring double snapped a streak of eight scoreless appearances and 9 2/3 innings without a run allowed.
For Dodd, Suarez’s homer was the first run he ha allowed in his five relief appearances since rejoining the major league squad.
Reynaldo Lopez worked a scoreless eighth to keep it remotely in reach for the Braves’ offense and they nearly took advantage.
After a Dom Smith walk and a Mike Yastrzemski pinch-hit single, Acuña made it a 6-4 game with an RBI single to center.
Harris then worked a walk — his second of the game along with two hits — to load the bases for Olson, who grounded out to the left side on the first pitch he saw to leave the tying run on second base.
The Braves had just five total hits and were 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position through eight innings. They were 1-for-3 with two hits in the ninth to finish with seven and 1-for-5.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo (2-1) didn’t have the flashiest line (6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K) but he did enough to keep the Braves at bay as his team gradually built a lead and held on in the final frame.
