After delay, Reds' win streak snapped in 11

ATLANTA -- A season-high seven-game winning streak may have ended for the Reds vs. the Braves in the wee hours of Monday night. But that streak showed them they could do more than hold their own against a first-place club. Before arriving in Atlanta, the club swept a four-game series from the first-place Cubs.
There was no going away quietly against another first-place foe in Atlanta. It took 11 innings before Ozzie Albies hit the first pitch thrown by reliever Dylan Floro to send Cincinnati to a 5-4 walk-off defeat at SunTrust Park.
"A tough one to lose, but we did a lot of good things again. If we play like that, we're going to win a lot of ballgames," Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said.
What went right, at least before Floro's fateful home run ball? The Reds again got some decent pitching. Starter Tyler Mahle endured command issues, but allowed three runs over five innings. An unearned run was charged to lefty Kyle Crockett in the seventh. Jared Hughes followed David Hernandez with two scoreless innings in the ninth and 10th.
What didn't go well was the lineup going 1-for-11 on the night with runners in scoring position, with 10 men stranded.
"We pushed to extra innings, we had our opportunities and just didn't come out on top tonight," Reds right fielder Scott Schebler said.
After Sal Romano struggled on Sunday, Mahle resumed a trend of decent starts from the Reds' rotation as he pitched five innings with three earned runs, five hits, four walks and five strikeouts. In five starts during June, Mahle is 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA.

Over their last 13 games, the Reds' rotation has a 3.31 ERA. The group still ranks at the bottom of the National League with a 5.35 ERA.
Following an 80-minute rain delay ahead of the first pitch, Atlanta took a 2-0 first-inning lead against Mahle and it stayed that way until the fifth. The Reds' lineup was largely stymied by Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. It was broken up by a two-out solo home run to right field by Schebler.
Mahle found himself in a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the bottom of the fifth before one run scored when Nick Markakis grounded into a double play and Kurt Suzuki flied out.
"Mahle kept us in the game great," Schebler said. "I thought his performance was crazy gutsy to get out of that bases-loaded [situation] with just one run and keep us in the ballgame. I think that was the turning point of the game, him getting out of that jam."
Mahle wasn't pleased with himself, however.
"It turned a game that could have gotten out of hand into a close game," said Mahle, who has a 3.98 ERA after 16 starts. "What overshadows it is how the whole thing happened, letting the bases get loaded with no outs after we just scored a run and came within one. It was a shutdown inning. I just need to be better that inning."
In the sixth inning against Braves reliever Lucas Sims, the Reds connected with three straight hits to load the bases with no outs. Jesse Winker plated a run by drawing a four-pitch walk to score Joey Votto. However, José Peraza chased a first pitch and popped out to second base before pinch-hitter Adam Duvall's RBI groundout to the second baseman scored Scooter Gennett with the tying run. The rally died on a groundout to first base by Billy Hamilton.

Schebler led off the top of the seventh with a double and scored the go-ahead run from third base on Votto's comebacker off of the leg of reliever Sam Freeman. But it was a Votto fielding error on Freddie Freeman's sharp grounder to first base that opened the door for Atlanta to tie the game a second time. With Freeman on second base, Danny Santana hit a two-out double to right field against Hernandez.
The Reds' inability to capitalize on chances finally took its toll in the 11th. Albies slugged a changeup from Floro and it barely cleared the right-field fence.
"I went up there with one mentality, to hit a home run. I just wanted to see a pitch I could drive," Albies said.

Had this been another close loss full of missed opportunities before the win streak started, the defeat might have stung more. The Reds seemed to sense that their momentum wasn't yet halted.
"That was a great ballgame. I hate to concede that in a losing effort, but that was really a great ballgame, a very well-pitched game," Riggleman said. "It was dominated by pitching for the most part, but some big at-bats."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Reds had a shot at breaking the 4-4 tie in the 10th. With runners on first and second with no outs, Riggleman had Gennett drop a sacrifice bunt despite him being the NL's leader in batting average. An intentional walk followed to get the bases loaded with one out against reliever Jesse Biddle. But the rally came up empty when Winker popped out to second base and Peraza grounded into a fielder's choice.

Riggleman explained the decision to have Gennett bunt.
"It basically was my confidence in knowing that Winker is going to be facing the guy with the bases loaded and one out," he said. "So I kind of felt the way Wink's been going, he'll get us a sac fly there. It didn't turn out well."
SOUND SMART
Mahle's no-decision snapped a streak of six straight wins for Reds starting pitchers. It was the longest win streak for the team's rotation since it won six in a row Sept. 20-26, 2009.
UP NEXT
As a pitcher who once worked in the NL East for the Mets, Matt Harvey is pretty familiar with the Braves -- although his track record hasn't been stellar. Harvey will get the ball for the Reds when the series continues at 7:35 p.m. ET Tuesday, facing Aníbal Sánchez. In 13 career starts vs. Atlanta, he is 3-7 with a 5.27 ERA -- including 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA at SunTrust Park.