CINCINNATI — Apparently after four days of the hitter-friendly conditions at Coors Field, the Braves picked up a thing or two on their way to Cincinnati: No matter what happens just keep swinging.
Even when back-to-back home runs against the Reds weren’t enough to give the Braves a lasting lead at the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark on Friday night, the Braves just kept slugging.
In a game in which the two teams combined for seven home runs, the Braves’ Dan Uggla had the last word, and the last home run — a pinch-hit two-run shot for the winning blow in a 6-4 win.
“Obviously best-case scenario,” said Uggla, who hadn’t played since Wednesday because of a sore left calf.
The Braves’ ailing second baseman came off the bench in the ninth with the go-ahead run at second base and two outs. His two-run shot to center simply assured he could trot around the bases.
With the swing off Nick Masset, Uggla extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games with not only the first pinch-hit homer of his career, but the first pinch hit. He had been 0-for-4 as a pinch hitter.
He extended his streak on a night when manager Fredi Gonzalez was very guarded about how he would use Uggla off the bench.
“He told me yesterday he didn’t want to use me unless he absolutely had to, but I’m like ‘I’m fine,’” Uggla said Friday night. “I can control it. I’m not going to try and overdo. If I hit a ground ball, I’m out. Whatever. But if there’s a chance for me to drive somebody in in that kind of situation, give me the chance.”
Also, Craig Kimbrel recorded his 31st save, a Braves rookie record.
The seven home runs were tied for the second-most in a game at Great American Ballpark. Martin Prado had tied the score 4-4 for the Braves with a solo shot to center field in the seventh inning, which Reds center fielder Drew Stubbs went over the fence to get a glove on.
Jason Heyward and Brian McCann hit solo home runs on back-to-back pitches off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo in the fourth inning, only to watch the Reds do it two innings later. Fred Lewis and Stubbs took Jair Jurrjens deep on back-to-back pitches in the sixth to give the Reds a 4-3 lead.
Lewis’ homer was a two-run shot, and estimated at 376 feet into the second row of the right-field bleachers. It would have been a flyball to the right-center alley at Turner Field, which is 390 feet to the fence.
But before Jurrjens had a chance to wipe the disbelief off his face, Stubbs had homered on his next pitch, this one to left field, to put the Reds up 4-3.
“When [Lewis] hit it I was walking off,” Jurrjens said. “Then I saw Jason [Heyward] going to the wall, like no. I don’t like to say it, but it’s a cheap home run. When I give up one, I tip my hat and I accept it. That one is I think one of the cheapest ones I’ve ever given up.”
What looked to be a night of decent damage control for Jurrjens after a rocky start, ended with four runs in six innings in the hitter-friendly conditions.
All four runs scored on three homers, including a first-inning solo shot by rookie Zack Cozart. The three home runs by Jurrjens matched the most he had allowed in his career since he gave up three to the Phillies on July 3, 2008 as a rookie.
He hadn’t given up back-to-back home runs since May 31, 2008, also at Great American Ballpark. “It’s a band box,” Jurrjens said. “You know every flyball has a chance to be a home run. ... When you give up four here, it’s really like two somewhere else.”
Jurrjens labored for 45 pitches in the first two innings, only 26 for strikes, and had two walks (one intentional) and a wild pitch. But with the help of a double-play grounder in the third, nice catches by Nate McLouth and Eric Hinske in the outfield and long balls by Heyward and McCann, he got back on track.
Heyward homered for the second consecutive game after hitting a solo shot Thursday in Colorado. He has 11 home runs on the season and his first in back-to-back games since April 24 and 25th in San Francisco and San Diego.
Entering Thursday, Heyward had hit only two home runs in his previous 46 games, dating to late April.
