Muller stymies Reds, Acuña Jr. homers in 4-0 Atlanta victory

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Scott Heineman got a hit. Mike Freeman did, too.

The rest of the Cincinnati Reds did not.

Key Plays

• The Top of the 3rd saw the MVP-caliber duo from Atlanta do their dirty work against Tyler Mahle and the Reds. Ronald Acuña, Jr. belted a double into CF that plated Guillermo Heredia, and Acuña Jr. scored a batter later on a ribbie single off the bat of Freddie Freeman. Reds trailed, 2-0.
• While rookie Kyle Muller was busy shutting down the Reds completely just two weeks after his MLB debut, Acuña Jr. continued his bashing, homering over the wall in CF off Mahle in the Top of the 5th to make it a 3-0 Atlanta lead.
• Austin Riley followed with a solo bonk of his own in the Top of the 6th, doing so off Mahle, too, with the CF wall in its flight path. Reds trailed, 4-0, which is unfortunately how this two-hitter ended.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Despite the loss and series split, the Reds did get some rather excellent news on the injury front on Sunday - Tejay Antone’s UCL is not mangled, thank the lehrd. He’ll still be sidelined resting and rehabbing it, but anticipates a full return shortly after the All Star break, assuming all goes well from here on. The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans helped relay the news.
• Art Warren struck out the side in a perfect IP of relief today. That’s worthy of some dap.
• Cionel Perez fired a perfect IP of relief with 2 K today. That’s dap-worthy, too.
• Monday will see the Reds play host to the Philadelphia Phillies for a quick bout of action as makeup for that rainout they had that one day that one time earlier this season. You remember it. Wade Miley will do the starting for the Reds in that one opposite Spencer Howard, with first pitch set for 6:40 PM ET.
• Tunes.