Atlanta Braves ninth inning rally comes up short against Reds

Down 5-1 heading into the top of the ninth inning, the Atlanta Braves put together a valiant rally in the final frame, scoring twice and loading the bases before coming up short and dropping the series finale to the Cincinnati Reds 5-3.

Evan Gattis started the comeback with a solo home run to start the inning, and several batters later Jason Heyward drove in Emilio Bonifacio–who had reached earlier in the inning on an infield single. Just two runs down with two outs, Phil Gosselin had a fantastic at bat and worked a walk to bring up Freddie Freeman, who has been hitting well of late.

Freeman managed a quick walk of his own and that loaded the bases for the team’s best hitter at the moment: Justin Upton. But Upton couldn’t pull off the incredible comeback and grounded out softly to second base to end the game and cap off an 0-5 day at the plate.

While the offense struggled to score runs again, starting pitcher Aaron Harang didn’t help the cause much, going just five innings while allowing four runs. On 111 pitches, Harang struck out five Cincinnati batters and walked two while scattering eight hits.

David Hale later gave up a home run to Todd Frazier, and with the offense leaving 10 batters on base and going 2-10 with runners in scoring position, it was just too little too late.

Heyward, Gosselin and Gattis were the bright spots in the lineup today, as the three combined to go 6-11 with two walks, two runs and two RBIs.

Atlanta gets an off day tomorrow and travel to New York to take on the Mets Tuesday at 7:10.