Braves 7-1 Reds (September 18, 2024) Match Report

CINCINNATI — Marcell Ozuna hit a home run, Gio Urshela scored three runs and Spencer Schwellenbach pitched six one-run innings as the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Wednesday night.

With the win, the Braves remained just two games behind the Mets and Diamondbacks and secured the last wildcard spot in the National League.

The Braves are 1-4 against the Reds this season.

Ozuna greeted Tony Santillan (2-3) in the seventh inning with his 38th home run of the season, a solo hit that broke a 1-1 tie. The hit ended Ozuna’s 26-game home run drought and his 19-game RBI drought. Urshela scored two runs with a bases-loaded single to extend the lead to 4-1 after seven games.

In the eighth inning, Michael Harris II hit a home run and Ozuna hit a double to bring in Eli White and record his 100th RBI of the season.

“This means a lot to me, you know, after the rocky start last year,” Ozuna said. “This whole year has been incredible and special for me. I have the confidence. I come every day to play the game. Baseball is up and down every time. It’s tough. You have to be patient and have fun.”

“I’m happy for him that he’s made it to his 100th,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker. “I’ve never seen it happen, but I can imagine how much the guys want it. Now that he’s done it, he could go crazy.”

Urshela scored his third run with a ground-rule double in the ninth inning.

Schwellenbach (7-7) made his 19th start for the Braves. In six innings, he allowed one run on five hits while allowing five strikeouts and two walks.

“These are the games I want to pitch in,” Schwellenbach said. “I have over 150 innings. I think I’ve hit a new wave.”

Schwellenbach pitched just 65 innings in his first year as a professional baseball player. He has thrown 45 innings in the minors this season and has now pitched 109 innings in the majors.

“He was as valuable as anyone,” Snitker said. “I’m glad he got out of the sixth (first and third) with two outs. When you get into a close game like that, you never know what’s going to happen. The guys could pull together like we did and get him a win. I thought he was really, really good again tonight.”

The Reds managed three hits in the first five innings and scored their only run in the sixth. Elly De La Cruz hit his ninth triple into the right field corner to start the inning. De La Cruz scored on TJ Friedl’s safety squeeze.

Jakob Junis made his fourth start for the Reds. He was thrust into a starting position when Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo were injured. Junis retired the Braves’ first 11 batters before Ozuna hit a double. Matt Olson’s single to center broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning.

Junis pitched six innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 18 of the 20 batters he faced.

“We got some really good pitching from Jakob,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I think the biggest thing about the game was that their young pitcher really gave us a hard time tonight. We couldn’t get much done. TJ made a nice play to get Elly in. That was pretty much it.”

TRAINING ROOM

Braves: Ozzie Albies made his first rehab appearance on Tuesday night. “He’s been hitting left-handed all night. Everything’s been good. I hope he gets some good hits tonight,” Snitker said.

Reds: The Reds will decide whether Greene will start on Sunday.

Next

The finale of the three-game series on Thursday afternoon will pit Reds rookie Julian Aguiar (2-0, 4.88 ERA) against Braves veteran Chris Sale (17-3, 2.35 ERA).

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