Albert Almora Jr. singled with the bases loaded over a tied infield in the ninth inning to give the Cincinnati Reds a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
Marcell Ozuna hit two solo home runs, but they weren’t enough to lead the Braves to victory.
"I didn’t try to do too much"Almora said. "It was the most excited thing I’ve ever seen on the bench when we got ahead in the eighth. we needed that".
A day earlier, Almora would have been the go-ahead run, but he hit the warning track with the bases loaded. "I hit the ball better yesterday, but this one worked"said.
The Reds not only avoided a series sweep, but also snapped a 10-game losing streak at Great American Ball Park, the longest home losing streak for the team since losing 11 in a row at Riverfront Stadium in April. -May 1986.
Braves reliever AJ Minter gave up a single to Tommy Pham before walking Joey Votto and hitting pinch hitter Jonathan India to load the bases with no outs in the ninth. Almora had his base hit and passed Austin Riley, a diving third baseman.
There were great at-bats before (Almora’s) hit,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Joey has done it many times. The approach he took to taking those shots really shows the greatness of him. They’re trying to make a perfect pitch and not hit them, that’s what makes it great".
It was the first hit of the season for the Reds, who had been held to one hit in seven innings by Braves starter Charlie Morton. The 38-year-old struck out 10 and walked one in his third seven-inning appearance of the season.
"It was nice to go out and throw strikes"Morton said. "I was working ahead of the guys, but nothing really different from what I’ve been doing".
The Reds went up 3-1 in the eighth partly on a two-run double to right field by Brandon Drury.
"When I faced Minter earlier, he threw me a curveball"Druri said. "This time he threw me a cutter and I stayed in it".
The Braves tied in the ninth with home runs by Marcell Ozuna -his second of the afternoon- and Michael Harris II. Hunter Strickland (1-2) got the win despite giving up those home runs.
Reds starter Luis Castillo allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked one.
"We’ve gotten used to games like that of Luis, but we can’t take them for granted."Bell said.