Homer-Friendly GABP Hospitable as Braves Take the Series
by William Meiners
Off their shortest road trip to date, the Reds returned home from New York hovering two games over the even mark. Unfortunately, the Atlanta Braves, boasting baseball’s best record, rolled north for three games to end a woeful May in the Queen City.
Ronald Acuña Jr. hit Chris Paddack’s fourth pitch of the game over the fence. The Braves added three more in the second without benefit of a long ball. A pair of solo homers by JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe made things interesting. Then Sal Stewart’s two-out single brought the homeboys to within a run at 3-4.
The sixth-inning box score for Yunior Marte, a pitcher just up from AAA not long for the big club, is noteworthy. In one third of an inning, he gave up three hits, one walk, and four runs… all accounting for an E.R.A. of 108.00. Not what you want on your baseball card. That 8-3 score held up as the Reds put up goose eggs in their final four frames.
Saturday sucked, too. Bleday homered in his second straight game, this time with Spencer Steer aboard, giving the Reds a 2-1 lead after two. An offseason pickup who started the season in Louisville, Bleday is one of two unexpected outfielders, along with Blake Dunn. In fact, one promising endnote to May was the 28-year-old being named the National League Player of the Month. Among his achievements… a .301 average, eight homers, and 25 RBI.
But Bleday’s two RBI was the last scoring for the Reds on May 30th. With his “anything you can do” walkup song (not true), Acuña Jr. hit two more homers, both times pounding his chest as he rounded first base. Including his two, the Tomahawk Chop crew hit four solo homers in innings three, five, seven, and nine. For numerology fans, that’s some symmetry to ponder.
The Reds made a deep season run of not getting swept in 2025. Not so much in 2026 as they were swept by Pirates and Cubs on early May road trips. But they haven’t been swept at home since August 2024. The bullies with the racist mascot looked poised to fly out of town on brooms.
Acuña Jr. wasted even less time, hitting Nick Lodolo’s first pitch into the Sunday crowd in faraway fair territory. Who else but Bleday brought the Reds even in the bottom of the first with a double that scored Elly De La Cruz. That same tandem repeated themselves with Bleday’s third-inning double.
The Reds scored singletons in innings three through seven, a couple of which came on doubles misplayed in right by Acuña Jr. (he’s everywhere). The Braves kept it close with one-run innings in five, six, and nine. But the Reds held on with Lodolo’s quality start and a better day for a bullpen held together by band aids, glue, and St. Jude. With the bases jammed and two outs in the ninth, Sam Moll coerced a grounder to third to secure the 6-4 win. Mercy!
William Meiners is the editor of Sport Literate. Among his summer 2026 plans are the documentation of 33 Reds’ series. That should be about 600 to 700 words every few days. If you don’t expect too much breakdown or analysis, outside of his own troubled head, you may not be disappointed. From losing streaks through high-water marks, he’ll follow the club, sometimes literally, from the reluctant spring of early May through the dog days of August. Then he’s off to something else.