Wood defeats former team as Reds top Braves

Left-hander Alex Wood pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and earned his first win of the season as the visiting Cincinnati Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Friday. Wood (1-0) was making his second start of the season after coming off the injured list with a back issue. He allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. It was his first win in a Cincinnati uniform and evened his career record against his former team to 3-3.

Michael Lorenzen worked 1 1/3 perfect innings in relief of Wood. Raisel Iglesias pitched a clean ninth and earned his 21st save, his fifth since the All-Star break. Iglesias struck out Atlanta sluggers Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson to end the game. The four-game series is even at 1-1. Cincinnati leads the season series 3-2.

The Cincinnati offence was sparked by Joey Votto. The first baseman hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his 11th, and added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Votto, Eugenio Suarez, Nick Senzel and Kyle Farmer finished with two hits apiece to pace the Reds' 10-hit attack. Suarez also walked three times. Atlanta starter Kevin Gausman (3-7) suffered through his second consecutive poor outing. The veteran worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Gausman has given up 11 runs in his last 10 2/3 innings. He fell to 0-3 in his career against the Reds.

Atlanta got both of its runs on solo home runs. Rookie Austin Riley hit his 17th homer of the season in the fifth inning, his first homer since July 6 against Miami. Ronald Acuna Jr. smashed his 26th homer in the sixth inning, a ball that was measured at 453 feet. The troubled Atlanta bullpen combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Josh Tomlin (2 1/3 innings), Chris Martin (one inning) and Jerry Blevins (one inning) kept the game close for the Braves. It was Martin's Braves debut after he was acquired from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline.

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