De La Cruz closes in on 30-30, Williamson throws six sharp innings as Reds blank Braves 4-0
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
ATLANTA (AP) — Elly De La Cruz closed in on a 30-30 season, Brandon Williamson threw six sharp innings and the Cincinnati Reds blanked the NL East champion Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Tuesday night.
De La Cruz got his 29th stolen base in the first inning and opened the scoring with his 29th homer in the third. He tacked on a run-scoring single in the seventh.
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De La Cruz closes in on 30-30, Williamson throws six sharp innings as Reds blank Braves 4-0
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
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By PAUL NEWBERRY
ATLANTA (AP) — Elly De La Cruz closed in on a 30-30 season, Brandon Williamson threw six sharp innings and the Cincinnati Reds blanked the NL East champion Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Tuesday night.
De La Cruz got his 29th stolen base in the first inning and opened the scoring with his 29th homer in the third. He tacked on a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. left the game in the third after fouling a ball off his left leg. He went down with a big grimace, hobbled out of the batting circle and dropped to his knees again while attended to by manager Walt Weiss and an athletic trainer for several minutes.
X-rays were negative and Acuña was listed as day-to-day, a big relief for the Braves with the playoffs just a week away.
Williamson (5-4) permitted just three hits, with no walks and two strikeouts over his 68-pitch outing. He didn't allow a runner past first base — an unlikely performance from a pitcher who has largely struggled during an injury-plagued season and worked out of the bullpen in his last three appearances for the last-place Reds.
Brock Burke, Tejay Antone and Emilio Pagán worked a scoreless inning apiece to finish the seven-hitter.
De La Cruz hit a two-out shot into the right-field seats on a 2-0 pitch from Braves rookie JR Ritchie (1-4), who took the loss despite allowing just one run while recording a career-best eight strikeouts in five innings.
De La Cruz has a chance in the final week of the regular season to become only the fourth player in Reds history to reach the 30-30 club after Eric Davis (1987), Barry Larkin (1996) and Brandon Phillips (2007).
The Braves clinched their seventh NL East title in nine years on Sunday. They are likely to host a best-of-three series against the lowest-seeded wild card next week.
Up next
Atlanta LHP Chris Sale (14-9, 2.18 ERA) is set to make his final start before the playoffs when he goes Wednesday night against Reds LHP Andrew Abbott (6-11, 4.70).
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