ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Martinez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Ty France had an RBI double and the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves 1-0 on Monday night in the makeup of a July rainout.
Atlanta dropped a game behind the Mets for the last National League wild card. New York won 3-2 in Toronto.
Martinez (8-6) struck out five and held the Braves hitless from the second through the seventh, retiring 17 straight batters in the process. It was the fourth time this season he allowed just two hits in an outing.
“He’s been doing it all year for us, but on a night when we needed him to step up, he did exactly that,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I heard he only threw one first-pitch ball, which is just amazing. I don’t know how often that happens.”
Fernando Cruz struck out two in the eighth and Alexis Díaz pitched a flawless ninth for his 27th save in 30 opportunities, completing the two-hitter.
The game was scheduled to make up a July 23 postponement. The Reds won the first two games of that series on July 22 and 24.
A win would have pushed Atlanta to a season-high 14 games over .500. Instead, the Braves dropped to 4-4 in September.
“We’ve just got to hope we can get a couple of our big guys get rolling and get on a run,” manager Brian Snitker said. “When you’re having trouble scoring runs and you’re pitching really good, there’s no room for error. We’ve just got to keep showing up tomorrow and go 1-0.”
Atlanta is 16-22 in one-run games and 22-38 when the opponent scores first.
Charlie Morton (8-8) struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings. He permitted one run and six hits.
“Where we are in the season, we are more aware of what’s going on in our division and in the wild-card race and all of that,” Morton said. “A game like this is pretty tough.”
Cincinnati got on the board in the second when France’s double scored TJ Friedl, who was hit by a pitch.
Martinez set down 17 batters in a row before Matt Olson reached on an infield single in the seventh, beating out a throw from third baseman Noelvi Marte.
Cincinnati momentarily took a 2-0 lead in the top of the ninth, but a close call at first base was overturned upon replay review to end the inning.
The Reds won despite leaving nine runners on base.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: Placed catcher Travis d’Arnaud on the paternity list and recalled Chadwick Tromp from Triple-A Gwinnett.
UP NEXT
Braves RHP Reynaldo Lopez (8-5, 2.04 ERA) faces Washington LHP MacKenzie Gore (8-11, 4.32) in the opener of a two-game series.
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