Atlanta Braves fall to Reds after late-inning comeback is neutralized

R.A. Dickey was excellent for all but a third of an inning Friday night against the Reds. His sixth-inning struggles, along with a great performance by Sal Romano forced the Braves to play catch-up over the last three innings,

The Atlanta Braves couldn’t be happier with the way R.A. Dickey has pitched lately. Entering play Friday, the 42-year-old knuckleballer had turned in 10 quality starts in his last 12 games. Dickey was tasked with facing a home run hitting Reds lineup backed by struggling rookie starter Sal Romano.

The Braves were able to get on the board early against Romano. With nobody on and one out in the 2nd inning, Matt Adams lined a shot to right field that just did clear the high brick wall to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead.

Per usual, R.A. Dickey was dealing through his first five innings of work. He struck out seven men and had held the Reds scoreless through five beautiful innings of baseball, looking to be on his way to another quality start.

And then came the 6th..

The R.A. Dickey we’ve grown to love so much disappeared after the 5th inning. Joey Votto led off the 6th with a single after getting K’ed twice earlier in the game.

Then came the fireworks..

Adam Duvall hit a two-run homer to make it 2-1. Dickey was able to get Scooter Gennett to fly out, but then Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker followed with solo shots of their own to make it 4-1 Reds. R.A. would then strike out the next two batters to end the 6th.

Dickey’s final line: 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 9 SO, 1 BB

Rex Brothers came in to work the 7th inning, hoping to keep the game at a standstill and give the Braves a chance to come back. The Reds, however, had other plans. A Billy Hamilton double, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk loaded the bases for Cincinnati with nobody out, and Adam Duvall picked up another RBI via double play. 5-1 Reds after 7 innings.

Brother’s not-so-swell performance was followed by Luke Jackson‘s wild 8th inning. Jackson walked two and hit a batter before getting himself out of the 8th without a run scoring.

Comeback time!

Braves players not named Matt Adams found their bats in the bottom of the 8th inning. Ender Inciarte and Brandon Phillips led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Freddie Freeman was able to move Phillips over to 2nd with a groundout to set up the ensuing rally.

Nick Markakis grounded out to bring home Ender, and Tyler Flowers ripped a double to score Phillips. The Braves couldn’t inch any closer in the 8th, but in the blink of an eye, they cut the Reds’ lead to just 5-3.

A perfect 9th inning from Arodys Vizcaino was the highlight of the Braves’ bullpen performance Friday night, and set up one last comeback opportunity for the Braves in the home half of the 9th.

Dansby Swanson struck out to start the bottom of the 9th, Jace Peterson walked, and then Ender struck out to bring up Brandon Phillips with two outs. The veteran sent a comebacker to the mound that Raisel Iglesias speared to end the game.

Reds win, 5-3.

Notes:

• Dansby Swanson walked twice Friday, his second straight game with two walks.
• Reds’ slugger Joey Votto struck out three times against the Braves. This was his first three strikeout game in 197 games.
• With two hits, Ender Inciarte now has 44 multi-hit games this year, and is batting .302
• R.A. Dickey set a new season high with 9 strikeouts, despite going just 6 innings.

Next: Could R.A. Dickey be a Brave next year?

Julio Teheran will take the mound for the Atlanta Braves Saturday night, and he’ll face another Reds rookie starting pitcher in Robert Stephenson. Teheran will try and build off of an impressive start in Colorado, where he pitched 7 innings of scoreless ball in Atlanta’s 3-0 loss to the Rockies.