Cincinnati Reds: 3 takeaways from the comeback win over the Braves

2. The pitching was good enough

Two months ago, would you have imagined yourself cheering for Robert Stephenson entering a game at a critical point in the sixth inning? It’s okay, neither would I, but that’s exactly what I was doing on Tuesday night.

Sonny Gray pitched well enough to win last night’s game, but after Dansby Swanson’s looper into left field found the turf and he wheeled around the bases for a triple, there seemed to be a different attitude among the Braves hitters.

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When the sixth inning began, the Atlanta bats began teeing off on Gray and he looked gassed. Three consecutive hits, an error, and a sacrifice fly led to a 4-3 Atlanta lead and Gray’s exit. Gray finished with 3 earned runs through 5.1 innings and 9 strikeouts.

Bell virtually emptied his bullpen over the next 3.2 innings, with Stephenson turning in a beautiful performance in his 0.2 innings. With the Braves threatening to score again in the sixth inning, Stephenson shut down the Atlanta rally with back-to-back punch outs and left Ronald Acuna Jr. on third base.

Wandy Peralta and Jared Hughes each surrendered a run, but David Hernandez, Amir Garrett, and Raisel Iglesias kept the Braves bats at bay. Iggy closed out the game in ninth after surrendering a leadoff double to Matt Joyce.

The Cincinnati Reds’ pitching was not stellar, they did allow 6 runs, but it was good enough to walk out of Great American Ball Park with the win. If the offense does its part, the Reds can survive a pitching performance like they had last night.