CINCINNATI -- If an inanimate object like a stadium can be a friend, hitters usually have no better friend in baseball than Great American Ball Park. But for the Reds, who were hitting drives to right or center field against the Braves on Friday, most of them landed short -- either at or near the warning track for outs.
A 12-mph wind blowing in from right to left field was the culprit. There was also a fantastic catch at the wall in center field that robbed Jesse Winker. Alas, the Reds fell short in the line score with a 3-2 loss to Atlanta before the largest home crowd of the season -- 30,231 fans.
"It’s not usually a really strong wind, but when it’s blowing in from right-center like that, it makes it really tough to hit the ball out of here," Reds manager David Bell said. "It seems like there’s only five or six games a year, I have no idea if that’s right, but that’s what it seems like. Tonight was one of those nights."
Leading off the bottom of the eighth inning and down by a run against reliever A.J. Minter, Winker launched a drive to center field that left his bat at 106 mph and traveled 399 feet. Center fielder Guillermo Heredia made a spectacular running catch before crashing hard into the fence. Heredia was down for a couple of moments -- ironically with the wind knocked out of him -- before continuing in the game.
Had Winker reached with extra bases, he could have likely scored on hits by the batters who followed -- Nick Castellanos and Tyler Stephenson. The inning ended when Joey Votto hit into a double play.
"That play he made on Wink, off the bat, usually that’s a home run. And if not, it’s certainly at least a double. Just a great play," Bell said.
Winker also hit a 392-foot drive to left-center field off Braves starter Drew Smyly that was caught at the warning track in the sixth inning. In the fourth, with Castellanos on second base, Stephenson hit a drive to right field that was held up in the breeze for a catch. Votto had a drive to right field go nowhere but into a glove in the first.
The Braves were able to hit a pair of home runs against Reds starter Vladimir Gutierrez, however. Gutierrez gave up three earned runs and six hits over his six-plus innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
A two-out ground-rule double to center field hit by Freddie Freeman over the head of center fielder Aristides Aquino scored the game’s first run in the top of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth, Gutierrez left a first-pitch fastball over the heart of the plate and Dansby Swanson crushed it for a two-out solo homer to the first row in right field.
Gutierrez returned for the seventh and Heredia led off by lifting a 1-0 fastball over the plate for a homer to right-center field to make it a 3-1 game.
"I was checking on the tablet that I have in the dugout just to see where those pitches were. The first home run was down, but it was still close to the plate. The one to Heredia was in the middle of the plate," Gutierrez said via translator Jorge Merlos. "The pitcher that doesn’t give up a home run doesn’t play the game. I was just trying to execute a good pitch there, try to battle him and get him out on a strikeout. That ball stayed in the zone and that’s what happened."
Despite a loss, the large crowd was treated to some fun moments as well.
Atlanta had runners on the corners with two outs in the fourth when Eugenio Suárez made a fantastic diving stop on William Contreras' hot grounder down the third-base line. Suárez was able to make the long throw to Votto at first base for the out, which saved at least one run.
"That one was a tough hop, but I reeled it in really good and threw my glove on [it]," Suárez said. "I made a really good play to save that run and keep the game close.”
In the bottom of the sixth inning, some nice baserunning by Jonathan India created the Reds' first run. On first base with a single, India went to second base on Winker's flyout to the warning track. With Stephenson batting, India stole third base and he was able to score on the rookie catcher's RBI double.
Leading off the bottom of the seventh against reliever Luke Jackson, Suárez became the lone Red to clear the fences. He lifted a 1-1 pitch to left-center field for his 16th homer of the season to make it a one-run game again.
“We put up some really good swings today," Suárez said. "For some reason, the ball didn’t fly today. I hit that one OK. I hit it good. Sometimes, it’s like that. You hit a ball good and you’re out. Sometimes you hit it soft and you’ve got a hit. Just keep putting good swings on it. Good swings and one day, you’re going to have your results.”