Joey Votto homers twice, but Cincinnati Reds comeback falls short in walk-off loss

ATLANTA – Joey Votto put his name next to Ty Cobb and Pete Rose in the record books Wednesday, and he nearly single-handedly carried the Cincinnati Reds back from a five-run deficit against the Atlanta Braves.

Votto did everything he could. He homered twice, reached base in five of his six plate appearances and hit a game-tying two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning.

He just couldn’t stop the Braves from pulling a comeback of their own in the bottom of the 11th inning. Atlanta was down to its final out when Ozzie Albies launched a walk-off, three-run homer to right field to hand the Reds a painful 8-6 loss in 11 innings at Truist Park in front of a crowd of 23,375.

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The Reds’ bullpen permitted only one hit in 5 2/3 innings before Albies’ heroics against Reds reliever Lucas Sims.

It was a stunning turn of events after Kyle Farmer gave the Reds a one-run lead in the top of the 11th inning with an RBI single down the first-base line for their first lead of the game.

Trailing by two runs in the ninth inning, Nick Castellanos was hit by a pitch on his foot. That brought up Votto, who launched a first-pitch slider from Braves closer Will Smith over the right-field wall for a 412-foot, game-tying homer. 

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It was Votto's third home run of the season against a left-handed pitcher. The dugout erupted as he ran around the bases with some players raising two fingers. When Votto crossed home plate, Mike Moustakas, just kept pointing at him. 

Votto, who high-fived a fan near the dugout, passed Rose for third on the Reds’ all-time RBI list (1,038), trailing only Johnny Bench (1,376) and Tony Perez (1,192).

The sixth inning, when the Reds began their comeback bid, looked virtually the same as the ninth. Castellanos was hit by a pitch that grazed his pants leg. He initially returned to the batter’s box before the Reds’ dugout initiated a replay review. Votto followed with a towering 442-foot homer to straightaway center field, clearing the first row of trees behind the wall.

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It was Votto’s longest home run of the season, a majestic missile off his bat. Since the All-Star break, he leads the Majors in homers (14) and RBI (32). No other player has more than 10 homers. 

Votto joined Frank Robinson (1962) as the only two players in Reds history to hit 14 homers in a 20-game span, according to STATS, LLC. It was the third multi-homer game of the season and the 16th of his career. 

After Votto’s two-run blast, Moustakas and Tyler Naquin followed with back-to-back singles. That brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the sixth inning. Braves reliever Jesse Chavez escaped the jam with a flyout and two strikeouts on called third strikes with a tailing two-seam fastball.

The Reds added a run in the eighth inning when Naquin and Eugenio Suárez hit back-to-back doubles against reliever Luke Jackson. The next three batters were retired in order.

The Reds loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning against Braves starter Touki Toussaint, but Moustakas fouled out to end the threat. Votto drew a walk in the inning, which tied him with Cobb for 53rd on MLB’s all-time walk list (1,260).

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Votto matched a career-high with four hits Wednesday and he's five hits from 2,000 in his career.

Wade Miley, who has been a losing streak stopper in the Reds’ rotation this year, didn’t have his usual command. He allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in five innings, the second time he’s permitted more than three runs in his last 14 starts.

Miley allowed the first two batters to reach base against him in the first inning, then gave up a one-out RBI double to clean-up hitter Austin Riley. Fortunately for Miley, Jorge Soler ran through a stop sign from third-base coach Ron Washington and was thrown out at the plate.

In the second inning, Guillermo Heredia hit a no-doubt, two-run homer on a fastball that caught too much of the plate. Heredia blasted the pitch 433 feet into the left-field seats. It was his first home run since June 25, which was also against the Reds.

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Things went from bad to worse for Miley in the third inning when Riley hit an RBI double and scored on a sacrifice fly. Miley retired the final nine batters he faced, but the damage was done. It was the first time in Miley’s last six starts he departed a game with the Reds trailing.