CINCINNATI — After Tommy Hanson’s strong start and Eric O’Flaherty’s nifty escape in the eighth inning, the Reds ended the drama quickly in the ninth inning against Braves reliever Cristhian Martinez.
Todd Frazier hit a walk-off homer with one out in the ninth to give Cincinnati a 2-1 win against the Braves, who have lost four out of their past five, including all of the first three games of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park.
The Braves have scored just nine runs in five games and five runs in the first three games at the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the National League.
"Our pitchers have been holding us [in games], so some kind of way we’ve got to find a way to scrap some runs across," said Michael Bourn, who grounded out with two on to end the seventh inning, the only time the Braves had two runners on after the first inning.
It's their first three-game losing streak since starting the season 0-4, and the Braves also got another injury concern when reliever Jonny Venters was struck in the lower left leg by a line drive in the eighth inning. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said he didn't think Venters was hurt badly, but that he would be checked again Thursday.
“The Reds have caught us at a good time – a bad time for us," said Chipper Jones, who walked as pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, the first time he's played in five games since injuring his left leg.
The Braves played without Brian McCann, who was scratched for the second game in a row due to sickness.
"I’m out of the lineup, Mac’s sick, Freddie [Freeman] is having trouble with his eyes," Jones said. "You know, we just can’t put anything together offensively right now.”
Frazier's homer landed in the front row of seats in right-center field, a 355-foot shot that would've been an out in most any ballpark in the majors. But it was long enough in the stadium with the nickname "Great American Small Park."
"It kind of sucks to see that ball go in the first row and have that be the way the game is determined," Hanson said. "But that’s the ballpark we’re playing in and you’ve got to deal with it."
Gonzalez said, "It’s a flyball to deep right field [at Turner Field]. But the fences are there -- they don’t move them back when we come to hit."
The Braves haven't come to hit, figuratively speaking, for more than a week.
Dan Uggla put them ahead 1-0 in the fourth inning when he punished a 1-and-0 sinker from Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, driving it to the second deck in the left-field seats for his eighth homer in 81 at-bats at Great American Ball Park.
It sailed an estimated 438 feet, the longest of 12 homers hit in the first three games of the series. But that would be it for the Braves offense, who totaled just four hits Wednesday and have a .158 batting average over their past five games.
“Through a whole season, this time is going to come," Bourn said of the slump. "You can go look at the greatest team that ever played this game, at some point in the season they’re going to go through a rut. Actually Walk [hitting coach Greg Walker] told us about that at spring training.
“But you’ve just got to find a way out of it. That’s how it is. Our pitchers have been pitching great. As far as hitting, we’ve just been in a rut. Some balls we hit, we’re hitting right at ‘em. They’re making diving plays, the ball finds them. It happens. But we’ll be back tomorrow, I can promise you that.”
After the Reds tied the score in the sixth inning, the Braves threatened again in the seventh after Tyler Pastornicky’s two-out double off Arroyo. The Braves ratcheted up the drama by bringing in Jones to pinch-hit for Hanson, who had given up just four hits and one run in six innings.
Reds manager Dusty Baker wasn't about to leave starter Bronso Arroyo in to face Jones, who had a .393 average and three homers in 28 career at-bats against Arroyo. Baker brought in reliever Jose Arredondo, who walked Jones on five pitches, all split-finger fastballs.
“Pastornicky leads off the seventh with a double, and we’ve got to try and take a shot there with Chipper," Gonzalez said.
It was Jones' first game action since sustaining a nasty contusion above his left ankle that's still swollen and grotesquely discolored. When he came out of the dugout, Jones was greeted by a rousing ovation from Braves fans and plenty of Reds fans, as well. After he walked, pitcher Tim Hudson pinch-ran for him.
That brought up Bourn, who had two homers and a double in Tuesday’s loss. He grounded to the right of second baseman Brandon Phillips, who stumbled as he tried to field it, then somehow gained control of the ball long enough to toss it to second base for the inning-ending force-out.
"It’s first and second with Bourney, who’s been swinging the bat well," Gonzalez said. "And we get nothing there. [Hanson] pitched great. Minimized the damage. It was a long inning, but we were going to run him back out there if he didn’t come up to hit. But once you get a man in scoring position, I think you’ve got to take a shot at it.”
Hanson allowed four hits and one run in six innings and got no decision, giving him a 2.88 ERA (and 4-1 record) in his past seven starts.
“Tough loss," Hanson said. "But there’s only so much you can do. We’re out there battling and it just didn’t work out.... I felt like our offense was aggressive, and you’ve got to make quality pitches from the get-go. I felt like I did that for the most part. I’m pleased with how I did.
“I still felt good to go out in the seventh, but we needed to get Chipper in there and try to get Tyler in.”
It was Hanson's first no-decision in seven road starts this season. He’s 4-2 with 2.41 ERA on the road and has allowed two or fewer runs and six or fewer hits in each.
Hanson took a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning, when he gave up a pair of singles by Zack Cozart and Chris Heisey to start the inning. The crowd was buzzing when dangerous Joey Votto came to bat with two on and none out, but Hanson struck him out. Brandon Phillips then walked to load the bases, and Jay Bruce came to bat to shouts of “Bruuuce.”
Bruce has killed the Braves more than once at this cozy ballpark, although not against Hanson. He coaxed a grounder to first base, and Freddie Freeman made a strong catch-and-throw that looked as if it might yield a double play. But Bruce hustled to beat shortstop Tyler Pastornicky’s relay throw by a half-step as the tying run scored.
The Reds threatened in the eighth against recently struggling Venters, who was nearly knocked off the mound by Heisey’s leadoff single.
Heisey advanced on a wild pitch, and Votto followed with another liner up the middle that struck Venters in the lower leg. The ball caromed back toward the plate, and Venters recovered in time to throw out Votto.
After Venters intentionally walked Phillips to put runners on the corners with one out, lefty O’Flaherty was brought in to face Bruce and got him on an inning-ending double-play grounder. Venters will have his leg examined again Thursday.
Gonzalez said he didn't want Venters to have to face Bruce at that point with his leg throbbing.
Hanson retired 12 consecutive batters and 14 out of 15 before Ryan Hanigan’s two-out single in the fifth. It was Cincinnati’s first hit since Cozart’s infield single to start the opening inning; the only other Reds runner to reach base between those two was Phillips on first-inning walk.
“I had all my pitches going again and I was locating," Hanson said. "When I do that, I feel like I’m going to have a good game. In the sixth that first-pitch curveball was up a little bit, and the second guy punched that ball in between first and second. I’m not going to beat myself up over that. The 0-2 count to Phillips, then I walked him – I’ve got to do a better job with that. And then I did my best to get out of it and kept making quality pitches."
In three starts at Cincinnati, Hanson has a 0.93 ERA with two earned runs and 12 hits allowed in 19 1/3 innings.
“He put us on his back tonight, and we didn’t help him out," Ross said. "That’s as good as I’ve seen him pitch in a while. He was getting all his breaking stuff over, moving the ball in and out really well. He did a good job. It was exactly what we needed from him today, was to come out and pitch like that.
“We didn’t score any runs. We’re just catching a team that’s doing a pretty good job right now. They’ve got a lot of confidence and kind of on a roll. Hopefully we’ll come back tomorrow and play well, and get out of this road trip.”
