Major League Baseball
Cincinnati 11, Atlanta 8
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, August 19, 2017
Where: SunTrust Park, Cumberland, Georgia
Temperature: 87°
Umpires: Home - Jim Reynolds, 1B - Nick Mahrley, 2B - Lance Barrett, 3B - David Rackley
Attendance: 39317

ATLANTA -- Cincinnati Reds outfielder Scott Schebler appears to have his hitting stroke back after a stint on the disabled list to rest a strained left shoulder.

Schebler broke out of a 2-for-40 slump and Scooter Gennett hit his third grand slam of the season as the Reds went up by seven runs and held on for an 11-8 victory Saturday night over the Atlanta Braves.

"That would have been a horrible one to lose," Reds manager Bryan Price said.

Schebler was 3-for-4 with a double, walk, two runs scored and a RBI in his first start since late July after coming off the DL the day before and drawing a walk as a pinch hitter.

Gennett's slam, his 21st homer of the year, came in the ninth inning off reliever Jim Johnson and gave him five RBIs for the game. He was 2-for-3 with a walk and sacrifice fly, scoring twice.

"That's just the time to focus up and lock it in," Gennett said of coming up with the bases loaded. "Every time you have runners on, you want to get them across. It's not like I'm trying to hit homers, but you want to come through. To get some more runs there was huge, especially the way the game ended up."

Claimed off waivers from Milwaukee at the end of spring training, Gennett had a four-homer game with 10 RBIs that included one of his other grand slams. He is hitting .288 with 20 homers this season.

"I don't think anybody expected this," Price said.

Schebler, who has 23 homers, hurt the shoulder in June and was 4-for-52 since the All-Star break before finally being shut down. His average had dropped to .228.

"I believe this kid is a really good, dynamic player waiting to break out," Price said. "The power is the obvious thing, but he's got a lot to bring to the table. He's just got to get out of his own way sometimes and not press so much."

The Braves lost despite three homers, the last a three-run pinch shot by Matt Adams in the ninth inning off Blake Wood.

Freddie Freeman added a RBI single and the Braves got the tying run to the plate before Michael Lorenzen got Matt Kemp, just off the disabled list, to bounce into a force at third base to end the game.

Reds rookie starter Robert Stephenson was the beneficiary of the big nights by Schebler and Gennett, going five innings for his first victory of the season after four losses. He allowed five hits, including a homer by Brandon Phillips, and three runs (two earned).

Julio Teheran (7-11) took the loss, falling to 1-9 at SunTrust Park. He gave up eight hits and five runs (four earned) in six innings. He struck out seven, walked three and threw a wild pitch for a Reds run.

"I think it's part of baseball," Teheran said of his struggles at home. "Every time I get the ball I try to win. I haven't won since the first game, but it's not like I'm going to worry about it. I'm just trying to get better."

The home run by Adams was his 18th of the season. Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Aaron Wojciechowski.

The Reds scored three times in the fourth inning to go up 4-1, with one of the runs unearned thanks to an error by Gold Glove center fielder Ender Inciarte. Eugenio Suarez and Schebler had RBI singles after a double by Adam Duvall.

The Braves took advantage of a throwing error by Stephenson on a bunt by Teheran to get a run back in the bottom of the inning as Inciarte atoned with a sacrifice fly.

Phillips' 11th homer and first against his former team leading off the bottom of the third for the Braves matched a Reds run in the top of the inning courtesy of a Billy Hamilton groundout.

Phillips was 3-for-6 after going 2-for-5 in the first game of the series.

NOTES: Braves LF Matt Kemp was activated after missing 19 games with a strained right hamstring and was 1-for-6. ... SS Zack Cozart was out of the Reds' lineup after being hit in the left shin by a pitch Friday. ... The Braves placed RHP Luke Jackson (shoulder strain) on the DL and recalled RHP Matt Wisler from Triple-A Gwinnett. ... OF/INF Micah Johnson was optioned back to Gwinnett when Kemp came off the DL. ... RHP Luis Castillo (2-5, 3.39 ERA) will start Sunday's series finale for the Reds against LHP Sean Newcomb (1-7, 4.45 ERA) in a matchup of rookies.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cincinnati   Atlanta
Robert Stephenson Player Julio Teheran
Win W/L Loss
5.0 IP 6.0
3 Strikeouts 7
3 Hits 8
1.80 ERA 6.00
Hitting
Cincinnati   Atlanta
Scott Schebler Player Kurt Suzuki
3 Hits 3
1 RBI 2
0 HR 1
5 TB 7
.750 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Cincinnati 14 1 22 .359 17 8 9 5 0 3
Atlanta 15 3 26 .349 24 7 8 3 0 1