The game began as a pitcher’s duel between Max Fried and Trevor Bauer and evolved into a marathon, but the Atlanta Braves finally came through in the 13th to secure a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Things started inauspiciously for Fried, as Nick Senzel and Nick Castellanos greeted him with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with no one out. Joey Votto came to the plate and helped the Braves out by bouncing to Freddie Freeman at first for the first out of the inning. Eugenio Suarez then swung at another first pitch from Fried and lined out to Ozzie Albies in the shift. Fried then got Mike Moustakas to ground out to end the inning and the threat.
An error by Votto in the second allowed Albies to reach and gave the Braves their first baserunner. Albies stole second but was left stranded as Bauer struck out Adam Duvall and Dansby Swanson to end the inning.
That was the start of five straight strikeouts by Bauer that ended when he hit Freeman with a 2-2 slider to lead off the fourth. Freeman moved up to second on an infield single by Albies with two outs but was stranded as Bauer struck out Duvall to end the frame.
Fried matched Bauer pitch for pitch and retired nine straight batters before Castellanos singled in the sixth to break the string of outs. Votto followed with an opposite field hit but Castellanos was gunned down by Duvall (and a great tag by Austin Riley) as he tried to go first to third.
Fried struck out Suarez with a nasty breaking ball to end the inning.
The Braves threatened against Bauer in the sixth but came away empty handed. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the inning with a double off the base of the centerfield wall and then moved over to third on a sharp ground out by Freeman. That brought up Marcell Ozuna, but he chased an 0-1 breaking ball and popped out in foul territory for the second out. Bauer then struck out Travis d’Arnaud swinging for his ninth strikeout of the game.
The Reds threatened in the seventh against Fried as Aristides Aquino blooped in a single with one out and then moved up to second when Fried hit Jesse Winker on the hand with an up and in fastball. Kyle Farmer then grounded to Austin Riley who tried to start the 5-4-3 double play but Farmer beat the relay throw at first. David Bell called for Matt Davidson to pinch hit for Curt Casali. Things then got crazy as Farmer broke for second after a pitch, but late. d’Arnaud threw down to second and caught Farmer in a run down. Aquino then broke for home and was retired on a leaping tag by Riley at the plate.
Unfazed by the missed opportunity, Bauer continued to mow down the Braves, striking out Duvall and Swanson to give him 11 punch outs in the game to set a Reds postseason record.
Fried exited after the seventh and you really couldn’t ask for much more from him after allowing six hits over seven scoreless innings. He struck out five and walked nobody while throwing 78 pitches.
After Chris Martin worked a scoreless eighth, Bauer retired the first two hitters in the bottom half and then exited. He finished the day having allowed just two hits while striking out 12 in 7 2/3 innings. He threw 103 pitches with 73 strikes. David Bell called on reliever Raisel Iglesias who struck out Acuña to send the game to the ninth scoreless.
Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth to give the Braves a chance to walk it off. Freddie Freeman worked a lead off walk off of Iglesias who then struck out Ozuna, d’Arnaud and Albies to end the inning.
Atlanta’s bullpen continued it’s strong work in the 10th as Will Smith struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect inning. Former Braves prospect Lucas Sims replaced Iglesias to face the man he was traded for in Adam Duvall. Duvall worked a leadoff walk but the Braves again were unable to do anything with it as Sims struck out Riley to end the inning.
The game headed into the 11th and the Reds put together another scoring opportunity against…
Read More: Braves outlast Reds in 13 innings to take 1-0 lead in series