Ozzie Albies connected for his 100th career home run and reliever Michael Tonkin earned his first win since 2016 as the Atlanta Braves defeated the visiting Cincinnati Reds 7-6 on Tuesday
Albies's milestone came in the fourth inning, a two-run shot against Cincinnati starter Luis Cessa that was his second of the season. Albies was 1-for-4 and has now reached base in 21 of his last 23 games dating back to last season.
Tonkin (1-1) pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. His last major-league win came on Sept. 29, 2016, when he pitched for Minnesota and beat Kansas City.
Nick Anderson pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save.
Cessa (0-1) took the loss. He surrendered five runs on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks in 3 2/3 innings.
The Braves have won the first two games of the three-game series and improved to 5-0 against teams from the National League Central
The Braves jumped on top 1-0 in the first inning when Matt Olson hit his fourth home run to right-center field
The Reds rallied for four runs in the third. Tyler Stephenson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Spencer Steer drove in two runs with a two-out single. A bases-loaded walk to Jose Barrero pushed across a run to give Cincinnati a 4-1 lead
Atlanta answered with a run the third on Ronald Acuna Jr.'s RBI single and regained the lead with three runs in the fourth -- Albies with a two-run homer and Sam Hilliard with an RBI double that put the Braves ahead to stay
The Braves added a run in the fifth on Orlando Arcia's RBI single and scored once in the seventh on Arcia's force out with the bases loaded, giving them a 7-4 lead
The Reds cut the margin to 7-6 on Barrero's two-run homer, his first, off reliever Joe Jimenez
Atlanta's Kyle Wright, a 21-game winner in 2022 who was making his first start of the season, allowed four runs on four hits and four walks and struck out three in three innings.
--Field Level Media