The Mike Minor of old was on the mound for the Braves on Friday night as the club picked up a 3-1 win over the Reds in 12 innings.
Minor, who had shown some promise in his last two starts after awful months of June and July, tossed 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He entered the eighth inning with a no-hitter still intact; a one-out walk to Zack Cozart was followed by a Chris Heisey groundout that moved Cozart to second base. Billy Hamilton then flipped a ball just over Andrelton Simmons's glove in shallow center field, driving home a run and ending the no-hit bid. Cincinnati had tied the score at 1-1 as Minor departed the game.
Fortunately for the Braves, who have been incredibly bad in extra innings lately, MVP candidate Justin Upton hit a bomb in the top of the 12th off Manny Parra to push Atlanta up 3-1. Upton now has 25 homers and 86 RBIs this season. His OPS is up to .900.
Craig Kimbrel closed out the bottom half of the frame to pick up his 38th save of the season.
The Braves and Reds will meet in game three of the series Saturday night at 7:10 p.m. ET. It'll be Ervin Santana against Mike Leake.