ATLANTA (AP) — AJ Smith-Shawver took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Monday night.
Santiago Espinal led off the eighth with a clean single to center field for Cincinnati’s lone hit. He was later erased on an inning-ending double play.
Matt Olson drove in two runs with an inside-the-park homer in the third. Reds rookie left fielder Tyler Callihan broke his left forearm on the play when he crashed hard into the padded wall in foul territory trying to make a sliding catch of Olson’s flyball.
Smith-Shawver (2-2) was trying for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. The 22-year-old rookie right-hander struck out five and walked four in eight splendid innings, throwing 60 of his 99 pitches for strikes. It was his 11th major league start and fifth this year.
Enyel De Los Santos issued a walk in the ninth before finishing the one-hitter for Atlanta’s second shutout of the season.
Kent Mercker pitched Atlanta’s most recent no-hitter at Dodger Stadium on April 8, 1994.
Braves shortstop Nick Allen made a nifty play on a hard-hit grounder with one out in the third. But otherwise, Smith-Shawver was in complete control as he worked into the eighth inning for the first time as a professional.
Alex Verdugo hit an RBI double in the third and Austin Riley had an RBI single before scoring ahead of Olson on his inside-the-park homer.
Brady Singer (4-2) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings for the Reds, who dropped to 18-18.
Key moment
Espinal singled on an 0-1 fastball to break up Smith-Shawver’s no-hit bid. He extended his hitting streak to six games.
Key stat
Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz went 0 for 4, ending his streak of reaching base safely at 23 consecutive games.
Up next
Reds LHP Andrew Abbott (2-0, 3.32 ERA) faces Braves LHP Chris Sale (1-3, 4.84) in the second game of the four-game series Tuesday night.
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