The Cincinnati Reds lost to the Atlanta Braves by a 7-6 final on Saturday (box score), snapping their majors-leading 12-game winning streak. The contest saw each team launch four home runs apiece.
The Braves jumped ahead early, with a Travis d'Arnaud solo home run in the second inning giving Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Atlanta would push that lead to 3-0 in its half of the third inning. Rookie Matt McLain would answer back in the Reds' portion of the third, launching a two-run home run:
Both teams would again plate runs in the fourth. The Braves saw corner infielders Austin Riley (double) and Matt Olson (home run) combine for three runs batted in to inflate the lead to 6-2. A Spencer Steer two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning sliced the deficit to 6-4. The Braves would later tack on another run on a seventh-inning home run by Marcell Ozuna to make it 7-4. The Reds would make things interesting in the ninth thanks to consecutive home runs by Jake Fraley and Will Benson.
The Reds had successfully rallied from behind on Friday night, winning a wild 11-10 contest that saw them erase 5-0 and 7-5 deficits. Rookie infielder Elly De La Cruz hit for the cycle, and Joey Votto launched a pair of home runs himself. With this winning streak complete, here are the longest in franchise history:
14 games: July 26 to Aug 12, 189913 games: June 5-19, 189013 games: Aug. 30, 1918 to May 1, 191912 games: June 10-23, 202312 games: April 30 to May 12, 195712 games: May 16-27, 1939The Reds entered Saturday in first place in the National League Central with a 41-35 record. They had the best record in the majors over their last 30 games, going on a 22-8 tear. The Reds were in last place as recently as May 25. At that point, they trailed in the division by six games.
The Reds and Braves will play the rubber game of their three-game set on Sunday. The expected matchup will pit Ben Lively against Charlie Morton.
