Bullpen walks haunt the Cincinnati Reds in loss to Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA – It’s one thing for opposing lineups to beat up on the Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen and it’s another for Reds relievers to beat themselves.

Amir Garrett and Heath Hembree combined to walk three batters in the sixth inning, including a bases-loaded walk by Garrett to the No. 8 hitter, Stephen Vogt, in the Atlanta Braves lineup. It turned a tie game into a one-run deficit and that’s all it took to hand the Reds a 3-2 loss in their series opener at Truist Park in front of 24,432 fans.

Austin Riley opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a first-pitch single against Hembree. The Braves didn’t need to put another ball in play to score a run. Hembree walked the next batter and then reached the three-batter minimum rule with a strikeout.

Garrett entered to face a lefty-heavy part of the lineup. He walked his first batter, Joc Pederson, on five pitches to load the bases. Garrett had a 0-2 count against Vogt before missing the strike zone on his next four pitches.

His slider may have been tough to hit Tuesday, but hitters didn’t even have to worry about trying to put it into play. The Reds’ bullpen ranks third in the Majors in walks behind only the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.

The Reds stranded the bases loaded when Garrett induced a fielder’s choice ground ball back to the mound and Luis Cessa, the third reliever of the inning, induced an inning-ending groundout on his first pitch.

The damage, however, was already done. It was the difference in a game that had the makings of a pitcher’s duel between Sonny Gray and Drew Smyly.

Gray had moments where he was unhittable. His two-seam fastball darted once it reached the ball, looking like ball until it spun back over the corner of the plate. His slider had the opposite effect, sitting in the strike zone until it disappeared into the dirt.

He struck out eight batters in five innings, including five in his first trip through the lineup. Five of the eight strikeouts were on called third strikes.

In the fourth inning, Gray issued a two-out walk to Dansby Swanson in a seven-pitch at-bat. That was the first time he had reached a three-ball count all night. Then his next pitch may have been his first bad pitch all game.

Adam Duvall, the former Reds left fielder, pummeled a first-pitch slider for a game-tying, two-run homer to left field. The Braves had Duvall for the last three years, then traded for him again in a deadline deal with the Miami Marlins at the end of July.

Gray had a dip in velocity Tuesday and was removed after 89 pitches. He yielded two runs on three hits and three walks in five innings.

Joey Votto opened the second inning with a double to the right-field wall, one pitch after left-handed starter Drew Smyly thought he had strike three on a cutter to the outside part of the plate. Three pitches later, Aristides Aquino lifted a fastball over the center-field fence for a two-run homer.

Aquino did his customary flex as he rounded third base on his 404-foot blast and teammate Vladimir Gutierrez flexed back at him from the dugout. He has 22 hits this season, which includes seven homers, five doubles and one triple.

It was the first time the Reds scored a run at Truist Park since Aug. 4, 2019 when Tucker Barnhart hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the 10th inning. The Reds were shutout for 22 innings in Atlanta during the Wild Card Series last year, the longest scoreless streak to start the playoffs in MLB history.   

The Reds didn’t produce another hit against Smyly, who struck out seven and walked two in seven innings. Smyly permitted three runs in 13 innings in two starts against the Reds this season.