ATLANTA (AP) – Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer, Adam Duvall went deep again and Max Fried pitched six strong innings to lead the Atlanta Braves past the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 Thursday night in a game that was cut short by heavy rain.
Fried threw one pitch in the top of the seventh before a line of strong thunderstorms swept across SunTrust Park, forcing the umpires to hastily call out the grounds crew. Nearly two hours after play was halted, lightning continued to crackle across the sky and sheets of rain turned the warning track into a muddy mess.
With no sign of the storm letting up, the game was finally called.
Fried (12-4) breezed to this third straight win, surrendering just four hits. After Jose Peraza’s RBI single in the second, the left-hander retired 11 straight hitters before Nick Senzel reached on catcher’s interference.
Reds starter Anthony DeSclafini (6-6) trailed 3-0 before he got his first out. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the bottom half of the first with a double and moved over to third on Ozzie Albies’ single. Then, after fouling off three straight two-strike pitches, Freeman went the opposite way for his 26th homer of the season.