ATLANTA -- Wednesday’s Trade Deadline saw the Reds solidify their rotation with the acquisition of Trevor Bauer, while getting younger, with the trade of Tanner Roark. The move gives Cincinnati an entire rotation that will be 30 or younger on Opening Day 2020 -- Sonny Gray turns 30 in November -- and a strong 1-2-3 punch at the top of the rotation with Bauer, Luis Castillo and Gray. It also provided an incentive to step up for righty Anthony DeSclafani, Thursday night’s starter, and lefty Alex Wood, who starts Friday.

• Box score

In the opener of a four-game series with the National League East-leading Braves at SunTrust Park, DeSclafani (6-6) showed the kind of grit that proves he wants to make that threesome up top a foursome, even in a losing effort.

“He had a tough first inning, but he did battle,” said Reds bench coach Freddie Benavides, acting manager while manager David Bell served the first of a six-game suspension. “He didn’t have his best stuff today, but he gave us much-needed innings, kept it at zero for us the next four innings of work and got us through five, especially when we were short a little in the bullpen.”

The 29-year-old righty bounced back from a rough first inning in which he allowed a double, a single and a three-run homer to Atlanta’s first three hitters -- All-Star starters Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman sandwiched around Ozzie Albies. DeSclafani made it through five innings, keeping the Reds in the game. Unfortunately, those three runs came on a night when Atlanta youngster Max Fried (12-4) kept the offense at bay, as the Reds fell, 4-1, in a six-inning, rain-shortened game, called after a one-hour, 46-minute delay.

“They were definitely aggressive and I got the team in a hole early,” said DeSclafani, who was making his first career appearance at SunTrust Park and first start against Atlanta since 2016. “I had to grind it out tonight. The curveball was kind of ineffective so there was really nothing to get them off the fastball, and they were on the fastball.

“I wasn’t getting the slider for a lot of strikes. It was kind of spinning up on me, and I wasn’t getting ahead of the bat or getting a lot of swings and misses. So, it’s just going to make a tough day. ”

DeSclafani, who came in with 60 Ks in 54 innings over his past 10 starts, managed five strikeouts on the night.

After the homer by Freeman, the Reds’ starter threw shutout ball over his final four frames, allowing four hits and only one baserunner past second. In the third inning, he fought through a second-and-third, one-out jam, retiring two of Atlanta’s hottest hitters, striking out former teammate Adam Duvall then getting a routine flyout from Ender Inciarte. He retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced and the only Braves batter to get on reached via error.

“I’m just glad I was able to keep our team in the game and get through five so we didn’t crush the bullpen,” said DeSclafani, who has now pitched to a 3.16 ERA (19 earned runs in 54 innings) over his past 10 starts.

That wasn’t going to happen, according to Benavides.

“I was not going to go get him. He was a pitch away, maybe, a couple of times,” Benavides said, breaking into a smile. “But he battled. He’s always been that guy. It’s good to see. Sometimes they have to learn when they don’t have their best stuff how to get through it.”

The rocky first has become the exception, as although Freeman’s homer was the seventh DeSclafani has allowed in the opening frame this season, he’d only allowed one first-inning homer in the past 10 starts.

“I’ve got a little more life on my heater and then having the curveball [helps] as well,” DeSclafani said. “If I have the curveball, it’s something that’s slow and has depth. So if I have that working, things can be easier and they can get off other pitches and not let them leave the yard.”

“I think it’s his working hard,” said Benavides. “[Pitching coach Derek Johnson] and [bullpen coach] Lee [Tunnell] and [assistant pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham] are with him in trying to get a game plan. He’s been doing a great job. Today was the first time he was roughed up a little bit in a long time. He bent a little bit, but he didn’t break and he kept battling out there.”

Thursday’s start marked the sixth straight in which DeSclafani has worked at least five innings, and the 10th in the past 11. He’ll look to extend his outings, and ideally some better decisions will come with that. After Thursday night, his record dropped to 6-6, with Cincinnati scoring only 10 runs in his past five starts, during which he is 1-2 with two no-decisions.

While it rained and it poured on the Reds Thursday night, DeSclafani is sure the sun will come out again and that there are bright days ahead for this rotation.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun the rest of this year and going into next year. [There will be] a lot of excitement, for sure,” DeSclafani said. “[It’ll be] one of the best staffs in the league.”