CINCINNATI – The Braves have faced little but rude awakenings on this seven-game swing through Colorado and Cincinnati, and a couple of rude endings too.
Drew Stubbs hit a walk-off opposite-field homer Sunday night on the first pitch he saw from Braves reliever Scott Linebrink to give the Reds a 4-3 win. It was a fitting end for the Reds, who homered twice in the first two innings as well.
A two-run homer in the first inning off Brandon Beachy gave the Braves their sixth straight first-inning deficit and put the Braves on the defensive once again.
But after allowing two home runs to the first seven batters he faced, Beachy regained his composure and gave the Braves six innings of a quality start.
“I thought Beachy was terrific,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We had some opportunities there later in the game, and they came up with some big pitches.”
The Braves failed to capitalize with a runner in scoring position in both the seventh and ninth innings. Hard-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman got Jason Heyward to bounce into a double play in the seventh, and Reds closer Francisco Cordero retired the side to strand Alex Gonzalez in the ninth.
The Braves had rallied from 3-0 down to even it for Beachy and set up the Braves bullpen to take it from there. But after Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, Linebrink lost it in the ninth on one down-and-away fastball.
“If I could go back out there right now, I’d throw the exact same pitch,” Linebrink said. “That’s the MO on him, fastballs down and away. That’s how we’ve pitched him every series we’ve played him. We executed the pitch. He hit a pitch he’s not supposed to.”
The Braves headed home eager for the spaciousness of Turner Field, the return of third baseman Chipper Jones, and a break from the Reds, who took two of three at Great American Ballpark. The Reds won consecutive games for the first time since June 13-15.
The Braves have gone 5-5 since the All-Star break while the Phillies have gone 7-2. A 3-4 trip left the Braves six games behind the Phillies in the NL East, matching their largest deficit of the year which they also hit on April 30.
After watching Roy Halladay beat the Padres Sunday afternoon, the Braves needed something big from Beachy. He gave up three runs, only two of which earned, and held the Reds there for the Braves to comeback.
But the Braves couldn’t convert most of their opportunities, going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Julio Lugo had one of those two hits to tie it 3-3 with a pinch hit RBI single in the seventh.
Brian McCann had homered to lead off the fourth to help the Braves chip away with a two-run fourth inning. The homer – a 446-foot shot to right field -- was McCann’s second of the series and team-high 18th of the season.
Dan Uggla’s career-high 14-game hitting streak ended on an 0-for-3 night with a walk.
When Beachy gave up two homers in the first two innings, it conjured up memories of his previous outing when he gave up a season-high six runs including two homers in his first visit to Coors Field.
He didn’t fare well in his introduction to Great American Ballpark either. Stone Mountain’s Brandon Phillips hit a two-out, two-run homer to right field four batters into the game.
Both of those runs were unearned after a Martin Prado error to open the game prolonged the inning for Phillips. Two batters into the second inning, Miguel Cairo hit a 3-2 fastball to left for a 3-0 Reds lead.
Beachy has allowed 13 home runs this year – the most on the Braves staff -- and has given up home runs in each of his past eight starts.
“It’s the same story I’ve had for most of this year,” Beachy said. “I’m trying to pick and be perfect in the first couple innings, and I’m falling behind. I’m having to throw pitches in the zone, in hitter’s counts and they’re hitting them.”
