Braves vs Reds Recap: Braves Cruise to 8-3 Win

The Braves rolled into Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park hungry for a win. Atlanta was 39-19 and riding a two-game winning streak. The Reds were struggling at 29-27 and had lost their last two games. Starter Chris Paddack took the mound for Cincinnati looking to stop the bleeding. Ronald Acuña Jr. had other plans. On the fourth pitch he saw—a 78 mph curveball—Acuña Jr. launched the ball deep to left-center field. The ball sailed 429 feet and crashed over the wall. The Braves were up 1-0 before most fans had finished their first sip of soda. Atlanta had struck first, and the Reds already felt the pressure building.

The Braves kept their foot on the gas in the second inning. Jorge Mateo's ground ball led to a fielder's choice that scored Dominic Smith. Two outs later, Chadwick Tromp hit a sacrifice fly to right, bringing Austin Riley home. Michael Harris II followed with a single to right that scored Mateo. Just like that, Atlanta led 4-0. The damage was done early, but Cincinnati refused to quit. In the fourth inning, JJ Bleday crushed a fastball 393 feet into right field for a solo shot. Nathaniel Lowe added his own blast two outs later, another 390-foot bomb to right. The Reds had cut it to 4-2, but the Braves' early barrage proved too much to overcome.

The game stayed 4-2 until the sixth inning, when Atlanta unleashed absolute chaos. Cincinnati brought in reliever Yunior Marte to try stopping the bleeding. Mike Yastrzemski doubled to right, sending Dominic Smith home. Jorge Mateo followed with a single to left that scored Riley and sent Yastrzemski to third. Then Michael Harris II stepped up and ripped another single to center. The ball found grass and two more runs came flying across home plate. Yastrzemski and Mateo both scored on that single. The scoreboard read 8-3, and Cincinnati had no answer. Atlanta's pitching staff shut down Cincinnati the rest of the way. The final score stayed 8-3. The Braves improved to 40-19 with the road victory.