After Gray (8 K's), Reds lose way vs. Braves

To finish off an eight-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the fifth against Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, Reds starter Sonny Gray went to his sinker, a pitch that hadn’t gotten a swing-and-a-miss yet in Tuesday night’s series opener, but one that had picked up seven called strikes.

The 91.7 mph sinker curved away from Freeman and back toward the plate, landing on the inside corner as home-plate umpire Will Little rang him up. It was Gray’s fifth called strike three and eighth strikeout of the game. The punchout came an inning after he left a slider over the middle to Adam Duvall for a two-run shot -- arguably Gray’s only “miss” of the night -- but it was another example of the control Gray had for most of his outing.

Rather than send Gray out for the sixth, however, manager David Bell decided to go to the bullpen, a decision that ultimately played a large role in Cincinnati’s 3-2 loss at Truist Park.

Heath Hembree and Amir Garrett were called upon in the sixth to keep things tied at 2. However, Hembree gave up a single and a walk before striking out Duvall. Bell then called on Garrett, but he struggled out of the gate, too, walking Joc Pederson to load the bases before losing an 0-2 count against Stephen Vogt to walk in the go-ahead run.

“Once we got to the 90 pitches, it was a tough call,” Bell said of lifting Gray. “I spoke with Sonny. I think he was open to going back out, for sure. He always wants that. It just felt like the right time to go to the bullpen there at 90 pitches.”

The sixth inning, along with a lack of offense outside of Aristides Aquino's two-run homer in the second inning, is the story of the Reds’ loss, but that shouldn’t diminish how Gray looked through his five frames.

With two injured list stints since the start of June, Gray is still in the process of working back to full strength. Considering his pitch count was just about at the 90 pitches he’d averaged in five starts since July 2, that might explain Bell’s decision to turn to his bullpen that early in the series opener.

But outside of the lone blemish on his line at the end of the fourth, Gray looked like a pitcher well on his way to being a core piece of the rotation as the Reds look to make a postseason push.

As he said postgame, Gray stuck to mixing up his pitch selection (Statcast tracked seven pitches in his arsenal). He said he was throwing a few more changeups, he was getting his fastballs to different spots in the zone and he felt like his breaking balls were picking up more swings and misses. Not only did he record four whiffs on just 12 sliders, but his four-seamer and sinker each notched eight called strikes.

“Location-wise, just still trusting himself to really throw the ball,” batterymate Tyler Stephenson said. “I mean, a true down-and-away fastball is the toughest pitch in baseball to hit. Just really being confident that he can make that pitch, and he did that tonight. We executed some really great pitches.”

Gray said that becoming the best pitcher he can be is still a work in progress, but he felt that his start in Atlanta was a positive step. If he can continue to string together strong outings, that final destination may not be too far away.

“I'm definitely moving in the right direction,” Gray said. “I'm definitely starting to feel more and more comfortable. I'm definitely ... I'm waking up every morning and going to bed at night, so it's only a matter of time before it clicks and translates on the field. You know? Like I said, it's an everyday thing for me. I'm getting a lot closer.”

“Sonny is getting closer,” Bell said. “I really believe it’s one step closer to where, not only the way he’s pitching, but being able to go deeper into games.”