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Ozzie Albies turned to teammate Danny Santana in the dugout and told him he was about to end the game with one swing.

”It’s time to go home right now [url=http://www.authenticsbuffalobills.com/cheap-josh-allen-jersey]Josh Allen Color Rush Jersey[/url] ,” Albies said. ”It’s time to go deep. I went up there with one mentality, of hitting a home run.”

Albies hit a tiebreaking homer in the 11th inning off Dylan Floro and the Atlanta Braves snapped the Cincinnati Reds‘ seven-game winning streak with a 5-4 victory on Monday night.

Albies knocked Floro’s first pitch, a changeup, into the right-field seats. Albies doubled twice before hitting Atlanta’s fifth game-ending homer this season. He’s hitting .455 over his last seven games, and his 17 homers are tied for third-most in the NL.

”I’m just trying to hit the ball where it’s pitched,” he said. ”Put a good swing on it.”

Rain delayed the start of the game by 1 hour, 20 minutes, the 10th delay at SunTrust Park this season and the third in the last four games.

The NL East-leading Braves have won eight of 12. They improved to 2-7 in extra innings.

Luke Jackson (1-0), the seventh Atlanta pitcher, faced four batters in the 11th to earn the win. Floro (0-1) was the Reds’ sixth pitcher.

Braves reliever Lucas Sims blew a two-run lead in the sixth, allowing three straight singles, issuing a bases-loaded walk and giving up an RBI groundout to pinch-hitter Adam Duvall that made it 3-all.

Scott Schebler doubled to begin the seventh, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and made it 4-3 on Joey Votto’s RBI groundout. The Braves tied it at 4-all in the seventh on Santana’s RBI double.

Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz, reinstated from the disabled list with right triceps tightness, allowed one run, one hit and four walks in five innings. He struck out four while throwing 91 pitches.

Foltynewicz gave up his first hit to Schebler [url=http://www.authenticsbuffalobills.com/cheap-tremaine-edmunds-jersey]Tremaine Edmunds Color Rush Jersey[/url] , whose 10th homer cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth. Over his last eight starts, Foltynewicz has a 0.96 ERA.

”He had a really fresh arm and just pounded the zone on us and made us work,” Schebler said. ”We made him work as well. We weren’t going down easy. We were grinding out at-bats and made him get out of the game probably a lot quicker than he wanted to.”

Reds starter Tyler Mahle loaded the bases with no out in the fifth before a groundout put the Braves up 3-1. Mahle gave up hits, three runs and four walks with five strikeouts in five innings.

Cincinnati was coming off a four-game home sweep of the Chicago Cubs and had won 10 of 12, but the Reds are still stuck in last place in the NL Central, five games out of fourth place.

”Schebler gave us a chance a couple of times,” interim Reds manager Jim Riggleman said. ”Tough one to lose, but we did a lot of good things again, and if we play like that we’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”

MOVING UP

Markakis, the NL hits leader, singled in the third to reach 100 hits. He leads the league in doubles and multi-hit games and ranks second to Cincinnati’s Scooter Gennett in batting average. Markakis went 2 for 4.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: INF Nick Senzel, the No. 2 overall draft pick of 2016, had season-ending surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right index finger. He suffered the injury on Friday with Triple-A Louisville. In 44 games at Triple-A Louisville, Senzel hit .310 with six homers and 25 RBIs.

Braves: LF Ronald Acuna Jr., sidelined since May 28 with a left knee sprain and bruises to his knee and lower back, will move down in the batting order when he returns from a rehab assignment later this week. He batted in the No. 2 hole in 25 of his 29 games before getting hurt. Manager Brian Snitker likes how Inciarte and Albies are complementing each other in the top two spots.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Matt Harvey (2-5 [url=http://www.authenticscarolinapanthers.com/cheap-dj-moore-jersey]DJ Moore Color Rush Jersey[/url] , 5.66 ERA) will make his ninth start for Cincinnati since getting traded from the New York Mets on May 8. He is 2-3 with a 4.79 ERA with the Reds and is 3-7 with a 5.27 ERA in 12 career starts and one relief appearance against Atlanta.

Braves: RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-1, 2.55 ERA) will face the Reds for the first time since 2015. He is 2-1 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts this month.




The Chicago Cubs will try to extend their season-best winning streak to seven games when they host the Cincinnati Reds on Friday afternoon to open a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

Chicago (49-35) has outscored opponents 56-35 during its six-game winning streak, which has pushed the team 14 games above .500 for the first time this season. The Cubs have scored at least five runs in eight straight games.

Through 84 games, the Cubs’ plus-104 run differential is by far the best in the National League.

“We’re all just trying to pass it along to the next guy,” Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber said recently to The Athletic. “We obviously want to have our at-bat and help out the team in some way. Get on base somehow, drive in guys, get the guy over. Whatever it is, we want to do that. And then it’s up to the guy behind us.

“We have full faith in everyone on this team. That’s the bottom line, we want to pass it on to the next guy.”

Cincinnati (38-49) has enjoyed the same type of positive momentum in recent weeks and is playing its best baseball of the season as it arrives to Chicago’s North Side. The Reds have won four of their past five games and 13 of 17 after concluding a three-game series with the Chicago White

During the past 17 games, the Reds have scored at least five runs 14 times.

“It’s our offense, we’re never down,” Reds pitcher Sal Romano said to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Doesn’t matter how many runs we’re down, they’re able to come back and swing it.”

The rejuvenated Reds have won or tied each of their past five series.

“I think that it’s getting to the point now where teams, when they come to play us or when we come to play them, there’s a little bit of, ‘Oh [url=http://www.authenticscarolinapanthers.com/cheap-donte-jackson-jersey]Donte Jackson Color Rush Jersey[/url] , shoot, we’ve got the Reds,'” Reds pitcher Jared Hughes told the Enquirer. “That’s what we want.”

Cincinnati has won six of nine games against Chicago this season, including a four-game sweep in June.

Cubs left-hander Mike Montgomery (3-2, 3.55 ERA) is slated to make his eighth start. The 29-year-old has provided much needed stability in the rotation after highly touted free-agent signing Yu Darvish went to the disabled list.

In 14 career appearances (four starts) against the Reds, Montgomery is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He has walked 11 and struck out 29 in 37 1/3 innings.

Cincinnati will turn to right-hander Tyler Mahle (6-6, 3.83), who is set to make his 18th start of the season and the 22nd start of his career. The 23-year-old is 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA in his past six outings.

This will be Mahle’s third career start against the Cubs. In his first two meetings, both of which took place this year, he went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA.

Cubs hitters Ben Zobrist, Javier Baez and Schwarber each have gone deep against Mahle this season. Baez has been almost perfect against the pitcher, going 4-for-5 with a triple to go along with the homer.

However, the Cubs are focused on making hard contact rather than blasting long home runs.

“We’re not trying to hit home runs,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said to The Athletic. “We’re moving the baseball. We’re hitting it to all fields.”

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