Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly drove in Matt Olson with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-11 on Thursday night in a wild game in Cincinnati.
After the Braves scored eight runs in the top of the eighth, the Reds nearly completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of their storied franchise by erasing an 11-3 deficit. They followed with eight runs of their own in the bottom half.
After a scoreless ninth inning, Atlanta’s Ozuna cashed in the free runner Olson off Emilio Pagan (2-4) in the first extra inning to help the Braves go ahead for good and survive blowing the eight-run, eighth-inning lead.
Pierce Johnson (2-3) didn’t surrender any hits in the ninth to collect the win and Raisel Iglesias was perfect in the 10th to earn his 13th save in 18 chances.
Ozzie Albies went 4-for-6 and drove in two runs for the Braves, who erased an early 3-0 hole and broke open a 3-3 game with an eight-run eighth, as Atlanta sent 11 batters to the plate.
The first eight batters of the bottom half recorded hits for Cincinnati and all scored, with Ke’Bryan Hayes and Spencer Steer belting three-run homers.
Reds right-hander Brent Suter stopped the hemorrhaging in the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth before Pagan came on for the 10th.
This is the second historic collapse by the Braves’ bullpen this season. On June 5, Atlanta blew a 10-4 ninth-inning lead at home and lost 11-10 to Arizona. But this time the Braves came out on top.
Atlanta has won four of the five meetings this season with Cincinnati, clinching the season series for the fourth time in five years.
Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI double from Tyler Stephenson to left-center. An inning later, Elly De La Cruz belted a Carlos Carrasco pitch to the grass berm in center for his first home run since June 23 against the New York Yankees. The 30-game drought was the longest of De La Cruz’s career and spanned 114 at-bats.
Cincinnati’s top starter this season, Andrew Abbott, didn’t have command from the start, walking five and striking out just one while allowing three runs — two earned — in 5 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
