The Cincinnati Reds (72-84) begin the final stretch of the 2026 season with the start of a six-game road trip and a three game mid-week series against the Atlanta Braves (92-64) Tuesday night at Truist Park. First pitch is at 7:15 PM EDT.
The Braves clinched the NL East division title on Sunday. They are four games behind the Dodgers for the #2 seed, and five games ahead of the Cubs and Padres for the #4 seed. Mathematically, the Braves still have something to play for going into tonight’s game, but realistically, they are locked into that #3 spot in the playoff seeding.
Lineups
Cincinnati Reds | Atlanta Braves |
| Carlos Jorge – RF | Ronald Acuña Jr. – RF |
| Elly De La Cruz – SS | Drake Baldwin – DH |
| Sal Stewart – 1B | Matt Olson – 1B |
| Tyler Stephenson – C | Ozzie Albies – 2B |
| JJ Bleday – LF | Michael Harris II – CF |
| Eugenio Suárez – 3B | Mauricio Dubón – LF |
| Dane Myers – CF | Austin Riley – 3B |
| Héctor Rodríguez – DH | Sean Murphy – C |
| Matt McLain – 2B | Ha-Seong Kim – SS |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Brandon Williamson | 43.2 | 5.56 | 1.53 | 27 | 31 |
| JR Ritchie | 62.2 | 5.03 | 1.47 | 38 | 58 |
| Links: Brandon Williamson’s Stats | JR Ritchie’s Stats | |||||
Brandon Williamson
Since coming back from the injured list in early September, left-hander Brandon Williamson has pitched better than he had been pitching in April. In his first start back on September 2 against the Padres, he pitched into the sixth inning and allowed three runs on seven hits. Since that game, the longest he’s pitched has been 4.1 innings, mostly because of him piggybacking with Chase Burns. With Burns’ season now done, tonight will be the first of two starts this week for Williamson.
Williamson has allowed eight home runs in only 43.2 innings this season, and his walk rate currently sits at 13.8%, a significant increase from 8.5% two years ago. That will be something he is likely going to work on improving as he looks to end the season on a good note.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 141 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 16% | 13% | .263 | .390 | .447 |
| LHH | 55 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9% | 22% | .208 | .291 | .458 |
Pitch Usage
| Cutter | Change | 4-Seam | Sweeper | Curve | 2-Seam | |
| Velo | 89.3 | 85.3 | 92.7 | 81.3 | 75.1 | 92.9 |
| Usage | 32.1% | 21.4% | 18.5% | 11.3% | 8.7% | 8.1% |
JR Ritchie
Right-hander JR Ritchie, the Braves’ first round selection in the 2022 draft, was with the Braves from late April through the beginning of August, at which time he was demoted to make room for Martin Perez. The 23-year-old rookie pitched in the starting rotation through the month of June, but with an ERA north of 6.00 in May and a 5.40 ERA in June, the Braves moved him to the bullpen in July. Ritchie was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett on August 2 and just recently returned last Wednesday.
Lefties have hit Ritchie better this season, with three more home runs allowed to them over right-handed batters. However, he has also walked more lefties and struck out more lefties in only 60 additional plate appearances. Ritchie’s most used pitched is his curveball. He has a 33.1% whiff rate, with 30 strikeouts, on that pitch.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 109 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10% | 18% | .221 | .312 | .389 |
| LHH | 169 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 16% | 22% | .241 | .379 | .453 |
Pitch Usage
| Curve | 2-Seam | 4-Seam | Change | Cutter | Slider | |
| Velo | 82.9 | 94.3 | 94.6 | 88.1 | 89.2 | 85.0 |
| Usage | 26.7% | 20.6% | 19.3% | 17.8% | 9.1% | 6.4% |
Game Details:
- Time: 7:15 PM EDT
- Place: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
- TV: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.TV (in network), MLB.tv (out-of-network)
- Radio: 700 WLW (Cincinnati area)
- Weather: 81 degrees, cloudy, 47% chance of rain
News and Notes
Roster Moves
TJ Friedl Cleared Waivers
Friedl remains in the Reds organization heading into the offseason.
OF TJ Friedl, who was designated for assignment on Sunday, cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to Louisville. #reds
— Mark Sheldon (@msheldon.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T19:08:40.378Z
Two final outings by Brandon Williamson would make it a little more hopeful about his 2027 expectations.
Recently returned from my trip to Northern Kentucky! Was able to attend the Friday night game where the Reds beat the Cubs 6-4! Had a great time at GABP! Best part of the Reds win was PCA going 0-5 with 3 SOs!
With 6 games left in this 2026 season, just want the Reds to finish strong and avoid 90 losses!
+25,000
Williamson has the chance to build his way to a solid pitcher as long as he can limit the walks and batsmen hit by a pitch. Just trying to locate well and good control over the next 10 innings or so to close out the season…
Friedl cleared waivers for 2nd time in less than one month… I think he won’t be tendered in the offseason so maybe will resign a minor league deal with the Reds or another team…We’ll see what Jorge and H-Rod can do on the offense this last week of playing time
+25,000
Not surprised TJ cleared waivers. I do think he’ll need to head “offshore” in order to play in 2027. But that’s just me.
OK, friends, a mere 6 more to go. Atlanta technically has “nothing to play for” since they won the NLE, but they won’t just roll over for the entire series. They are a well run club and I actually wish them all the best. Beat Bernie; beat the Trolley Dodgers; especially beat the Stupid Cubs.
Here’s my commitment for the rest of this season … nothing negative from me. I’ll look for something positive regardless (I I’ll likely be listening to the TV audio feed). I will watch as much as I can personally take in (still likely to Clete on a blow-out). I just hope in the battle between the Millionaires and the Billionaires we fans don’t get the shaft for 2027.
Onward we go. I’m thinking I need to wrangle a way to visit Truist Park sometime. It looks like a great venue.
I’m gonna have to be that guy because it really annoys me. Every group of owners is “billionaires”.
There are players on the 40-man roster who make $63,600 a year (players who are on the 40-man and have never reached the big leagues). And there are probably 100 of those guys around baseball every season out of the, say 1400 or so players a part of the 40-man roster throughout the year around baseball. It’s not a big number, but it’s not exactly a small number, either. Lots of guys that go back-and-forth on that AAA->MLB->AAA shuttle aren’t making $250,000 a year. And the guys that tend to ride that shuttle don’t tend to stick around on the 40-man roster for enough time to make a million plus bucks, either, for their career.
/end rant for now
@ Mark
“I just hope in the battle between the Millionaires and the Billionaires we fans don’t get the shaft for 2027.”
That sounded kind of negative, there. 🙂
No, I get what you mean. The Braves are still playing for a seed in the playoffs.
+10,000
I hear you. Bravos have their ticket punched, but their seeding will still be decided. They’ll start at home regardless, so it isn’t as intense as the WC teams playing for a chance to play.
Yep – a little negative there, but not about this season (or what remains) 😉
All the praise from Tito about Oswaldo Cabrera, and once again he’s not in the starting lineup. Can’t figure that one out. What’s the point of playing Suarez at 3B?
Chance for a blast … that’s really about it.
I’m thinking they burned a challenge here.
Ozzie next to Elly … 😮
Four batters,a walk and three strikeouts.Goodness I hope we can fix some of this all are nothing hitting next year.Just painful.Strike one,foul,strike three.
Excellent execution of Bike Helmets.
This is not a negative comment (about our Reds). It’s just an observation from the camera shot they did of Walt Weiss …
First Wife and I are major LOTR geeks. That shot of Walt made me think of several of the dwarves across all 6 movies. I’m just saying 😀
Matt McLain seems to be from Central Casting? 🙂
Background extra Hobbit at the tavern
Ritchie has 5 K in just 2 IP … guy has 58 K in 62.2 IP before this game so …the Reds hitters as usual with high K rate…
Have to admit, the kid has a bit of an air-bender going. Free swingers will amplify that.
I’m with Cowboy on that one … but Sadak is right. The ball was caught.
MattyMc is just a HOOVER out there. Still baffles me when I see some negative number associated with his defense.
Yeah, the defensive metrics often don’t match the eye test. Not saying they are wrong, but I wonder how developed they really are.
Elly goes deep! 29-29 today so far…
29 and 29 with 5 more games to play after tonight. Got to like his chances.
Elly outa here! That swing Made it look so easy
First Wife said that exact same thing. Effortless.
TySteve fell into a slump… He is striking out a lot recently
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Looking like he did the first third of the season.
Maybe I’m the only one who notices or cares, but it just plain looks wrong when Reds players — such as Williamson tonight — wear black sleeves under their white or gray jersey.
I realize uniform standards have gotten terribly lax in recent years, but when I see a guy in the black under-sleeves, he looks out of uniform and not respecting it in favor of his own personal style.
Other culprits include Antone and Hayes, who perhaps still wishes he were a black-sleeved Pirate.
Granted, more important matters exist in Reds world, but I needed to get this off my chest.
+5,000 for your free venting. It’s one reason we’re here.
Does look odd now that you call my attention to it.
Missed the stolen base. On the precipice.
It shouldn’t matter but I think uniform means uniform. The same. It looks out of place when some players have their stirrups and other long pants down to their cleats.
I think a lot of Reds fans wish Hayes was still a Pirate.
Just got home and noticed Elly is on the doorstep of 30 home runs. That’s a given I believe. Now steal a couple of sacks.
Needs 1 of each to get to 30-30. Definitely achievable.
Smart move for a team that is playing in October. He was obviously in pain and there are bigger games to come.
I didn’t see anything definitive, but was Chase Burns “injury” made up in order to shut him down, and get access to another pitcher?
It’s my reading between the lines opinion.
You are probably on to something.
It’s possible. Doesn’t make that much difference other than another live arm. Could be a marginal “injury” based on fatigue.
BW has turned in a tasty three innings so far, economical too.
+15,000
Williamson making it look easy. Loving the pitch efficiency. Keeping them off balance.
BW has turned into a crafty lefthander. I thought he threw harder than that.
What is a sweeper? Is that a new name for an old pitch, or a completely new pitch?
I think it’s similar to what we might have called a “slurve” several years ago. Cowboy hates the term, but he doesn’t say anything anymore.
Correct. It’s a slurve. Very annoying that they felt the need to call it something else than what it’s been called for 30 years.
Elly walks. Next stop second base.
Amazing how many pitchers attain a career high in strikeouts when facing the Reds. Took this guy under five innings.
Five goose eggs from Brandon, and on just 59 pitches.
This is a really good outing by Williamson regardless what could happen if he goes to the 6th inning after throwing just 59 pitches. Five scoreless against a good lineup…
Incredibly efficient. It isn’t the Stupid Cubs, but they can hit top to bottom.
Sadak just called him “filthy efficient”. This is going to be his max one way or another.
Nice job Dane … just continued to carry.
Dane Myers touches them all. 2-0.
Myers would make a sturdy 4th outfielder.
Yes he would. Versatile. Pretty solid bat. Good CF defense.
+10,000
Myers has had a solid year. Is he on a one year deal? Would like to see him back, assuming they play next year.
Reds have him for 3 or 4 years. Baseball-Reference says his earliest FA is 2030.
Thanks
Another quick inning from Brandon. Nice to see.
Watching last Friday’s game in person at GABP was revealing! Yes, Ty Steve had some awful ABs and Burns looked tired and was not sharp in his limited (3 innings) start!
Williamson finishes 6 innings. Nice outing real nice.
Incredible outing from Williamson. That’s the way to start a road series in the last week of the season. Now it’s up to everybody else to back that up.
Six (6) innings and only 68 pitches for Williamson! Who is this guy? Hope that he continues to improve!
Grammar changed since your HS days in 1971. No longer put the number in parentheses behind the word. Chicago Manual of Style and other grammar sources.
Only added the number in parentheses for emphasis! Thanks for being the protector of the King’s English!
Off topic (but still baseball). I’m currently reading Kinsella’s “The Iowa Baseball Confederacy”. Any of you read that at some point in the past? I’m enjoying it. Almost as much as I did “Shoeless Joe” (my last read).
Read it many years ago was enjoyable
The Cloudbuster Nine another good one. Features Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and other major leaguers who were trained to be pilots during WWII. Did a lot of their training on the campus of UNC.
MattyMc shows he CAN go with a pitch. I’m really hoping his offseason focuses on the right stuff. I like him and want to see him stay a Red.
Birthday base hit for Jorge!!
Jorge kinda reminds me of Curt Flood maybe just me. I dunno
Flood was 5-9 (I think) and the Reds thought that was too short for OF, so they moved him to 3B. STL traded for him and put him back in CF. He won seven straight GG from 1963 to 1969.
The Reds OF in 1960s w/c/s been LF Robinson CF Flood RF Pinson.
He belongs in HOF but isn’t. Every multi-millionaire MLB player owes him a debt of gratitude for the existence of free agency today.
That’s quite a compliment. Curt Flood was very special. I remember on the back of my baseball card for him stated he handled 226 chances without an error. 5’9″ was good enough!
Let’s go Elly get your 30th tonight!
Why not have McLain break for home on second base attempted steal?
Not sure. It was a quick throw to the correct side of the bag and a bit of a “sloppy” tag from what I saw.
Good end result as noted.
Elly brings him home anyway
OK, Sal. Time to join the party and up the RBI total.
EDLC knocks one in. 3-0.
Got that monkey off his back in front of family and friends.
Odd FC … Bike Helmets would have been preferred (obviously).
If the Arbitration hearings happen … anybody want to set the over/under on Elly? I’m thinking we’re gonna be in some kind of record territory.
And everybody exhale …
Wow Burke firing fastballs at 98.8-99.6 mph… please bring him back next season
Burke another guy who I’d like to see back. Imagine he’ll be a hot commodity if he’s not already signed for next year.
So, Burke digs a hole then climbs out of it. What is it about many relievers that when they come in with a clean slate, they seem to do that routine?
Has to be mindset doesn’t it?
He’s pitched in 76 games (leads MLB in that regard) so he may be a little tired.
Nice job by Burke to get out of that mess! Reds have left 8 men on base plus have 8 SOs! Could be leading by more than the current 3-0 score! Need the bullpen to hold the fort!
4-0 now. Burke was acquired from TBR for Gavin Lux (Reds leading BA in 2025). Good trade by Reds.
Agree! Hope the Reds can bring Burke back! Missed Geno’s HR as I was watching the Rays-Yankees game where the Rays SP was flirting with a no-hitter!
25 homers and 70 RBI seem good for any average hitter … Suarez has those numbers but his season hasn’t been as expected…
I kind of think they were counting on 35 and 90. He’s not getting to 30 barring some freak “miracle”. But his last several weeks have been an improvement.
If it’s me, I’m still not picking up the option.
Working Murphy a bit hard, aren’t they?
Out of the room when Geno hit 350.
25 homers and 70 RBI seem good for any average hitter. Suarez has those numbers but his season hasn’t been as expected
Not bad. BA a little low but HR and RBI are okay. In today’s world, maybe not $15 M worth but not terrible.
See above 😉
A walk ahead 4….I simply can’t stand it.
You & me both!
Reds P had TWO WALKS and threw a shutout.
Whiners gotta whine.
Not a good situation here bases loaded and the braves thumper at the plate.
Antone got in really trouble because he walked Yasztremski ….now has to face Olson with bases loaded…
Reds still have an outside chance to escape the NL Central Division cellar! Cards lost tonight and still have 2 more games against the Pirates and then end the season with a 3-game series in Milwaukee!
That was a big big out.
Yes! We can exhale again!
Great way to open the series and avoid 90 losses.
Back at it tomorrow, friends. Sleep well.
Yep! Mission accomplished! Avoided a 90-loss season! Now, let’s catch the Cards!
Wow! When was the last time the Reds had a shutout win? Great job by Williamson! Bullpen got the job done albeit with a little drama!
August 14th. 1-0 over Miami. Burns was SP.
An unexpected easy shutout win today…The Reds avoid a 90-loss season based on a really outstanding start by Williamson and another good offensive game by Elly…
Everyone knows this is silly to care about, right?
not if ya love baseball.
It shouldn’t be. Elly is THISCLOSE to 30/30. Sal is THISCLOSE to MLB lead in RBIs. Suarez hit career HR #350. For uneven comparison., Bench hit 389 HR and Votto hit 356 HR.
Have read a couple stories where it sounds like Valaika and Johnson stand to be replaced this off season. If that would be the case I’d like to see them bring in Miley as Pitching Coach to work mainly with starters.and try to talk Tony Fossas out of his semi-retirement to be Bullpen Pitching Coach. Miley could be very helpful with Abbott and Williamson while also teaching Lodolo a grip on his curveball that won’t destroy his finger. Nobody has more experience out of pen than Tony. Brian Garman does a good job in minors so I would leave him there. Don’t know what to do with hitting. Votto would be good but I’m not sure he doesn’t like his life right now, as a rich guy doing whatever he wants to and not really answering to anyone.
What I know about hitting is that my BA against houseflies is .186, but I wonder if hitting coaches shouldn’t be sent out to pasture alongside the Studebaker Lark. I see very little evidence that coaches help hitters, though the broadcasters seem to claim they help “tweak” batting stances, as if that helped Matt McLain or Aristeeeeeedes Aquino. Video analysts can accomplish the same thing.
As I’ve said before, if they don’t help AT ALL then why have them?
Obviously our current one is helping very little. lol