A wacky, eventful game played between two last-place teams was decided when Arodys Vizcaino issued a two-out bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning to give the Reds a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in Monday night’s 9-8 win over the Braves at Turner Field.
After allowing six runs through the first six innings, the Braves received scoreless innings from Casey Kelly and Jim Johnson. But after Adonis Garcia provided a game-tying homer in the eighth, Vizcaino surrendered a leadoff double to Joey Votto in the ninth and then issued a one-out intentional walk to Jay Bruce. The Braves’ closer proceeded to walk two of the next three batters he faced, including Tyler Holt with the bases loaded.
“It was a little ugly there on both sides in the early going, and neither starter was really able to get into a groove, keep the game rolling and get some early contact,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “So it ended up turning into somewhat of a slugfest, even though a catalyst for a lot of scoring opportunities, at least for us, were the base on balls.”
Vizcaino has issued four unintentional walks over his past 3 1/3 innings dating back to the blown save he suffered against the Padres on June 7. He had issued just six unintentional walks in the 23 1/3 innings completed this season before this span.
“I felt like the strike zone kinda got tight on me,” Vizcaino said through an interpreter. “I was getting some pitches and didn’t get some others. I was just trying to maneuver and navigate my way through it. But what can you do?”
The tone was set as the Reds produced three runs in both the first and third innings against Braves starter Aaron Blair, who surrendered six runs over five innings. Blair’s ugly outing would have been more glaring had the Braves not tallied five runs over three innings against Reds right-hander Daniel Wright. Freddie Freeman drilled a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth, but that lead was short-lived, as Atlanta reliever Ryan Weber surrendered two more runs in the sixth.
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