Travis d’Arnaud homered and had four hits and the visiting Atlanta Braves belted four home runs Saturday in a heart-stopping 7-6 win that snapped the 12-game winning streak of the Cincinnati Reds.
The Braves bounced back from the end of their eight-game win streak Friday when they had five homers in an 11-10 loss, giving them nine in the first two games between the leaders of the NL East and NL Central.
Reliever Michael Tonkin (4-2) struck out two over 2 1/3 hitless, scoreless innings to record the win. Former Cincinnati closer Raisel Iglesias faced his old team for the first time, allowing one-out solo homers to Jake Fraley, who homered in his third straight game, and Will Benson.
But Iglesias fanned Matt McLain and Jonathan India to earn his 11th save in 13 chances.
Matt Olson added his team-leading 24th homer, his third in two games, while Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna also went deep for Atlanta.
Spencer Steer and McLain also had a pair of two-run home runs for Cincinnati, which fell one win shy of setting a new franchise modern-era record. The 12-game streak stands tied with the 1957 and 1939 clubs as the longest in modern Reds history.
The Reds have a Major League-best 27 comeback wins but couldn’t pull off their 28th on Saturday as they lost for the first time since June 9 in St. Louis. Atlanta jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 6-2 and held on for their ninth win in 10 games.
The Reds and their fans suffered a scare when phenom Elly De La Cruz went down in a heap in the seventh inning after fouling a ball off his right knee. He stayed in the game and lined out softly to end the inning.
Graham Ashcraft (3-6) returned from a stint on the injured list with a bruised left calf and was hit hard by Atlanta. In four innings, Ashcraft surrendered six runs on 10 hits, including a career-high three home runs.
With four long balls Saturday, the Braves added to their Major League-leading home run total, which now stands at 138.
Atlanta rookie starter Jared Shuster could not take advantage of the offensive support, lasting only 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs and the homers to McLain and Steer.
–Field Level Media
