Reds Shut Out Sleepwalking Braves 4-0 as Ritchie Shines

by Earl·September 23, 2026

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Tuesday night at Truist Park, and the game played out like a post-clinch hangover — for one team, anyway. Brandon Williamson carved up Atlanta for six scoreless innings, allowing three hits with two strikeouts and no walks, while the Reds' bats did just enough against a Braves club that had already wrapped up the NL East over the weekend.

JR Ritchie was the bright spot for Atlanta: five innings, one earned run, eight strikeouts against three walks. He left with the game close, but the Braves' offense never showed up, managing one extra-base hit.

How our plays fared:

Moneyline — Braves: LOSS. Atlanta never threatened. Clinch-week flatness is real, and we read the wrong side of it.
Run line — Reds +1.5: WIN. Cincinnati won outright, so the cushion never mattered.
Total — Under: WIN. Four total runs landed nowhere near the number.
Elly De La Cruz over 0.5 runs (+101): WIN. He homered, scored once and reached base three times.
JR Ritchie over 4.5 strikeouts (-132): WIN. Eight punchouts cleared the bar comfortably.
Matt Olson over 1.5 total bases (-101): LOSS. One single, one total base — the 40-homer bat stayed quiet.
Drake Baldwin over 1.5 total bases (+102): WIN. Two hits got him over the number.

The takeaway: the run line and strikeout props carried the night, but fading a clinched team's motivation cut against us on the moneyline. Post-clinch spots are a real edge — just not always in the direction the standings suggest.