Leake shines as Reds beat Braves

Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Leake dazzled on the mound and hit his fifth career home run to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a four-game series.

Leake outdueled one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, Shelby Miller, who hadn't lost a regular-season game since Aug. 11 of last season, a span of 12 starts.

Leake (1-1) limited Atlanta to two hits and two walks over eight scoreless innings. The Reds backed him with four home runs as a team, with all four coming in the seventh inning or later.

"He did an outstanding job," Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt said. "He controlled the bats pretty well. You have to take your hat off to him."

Miller (3-1) struck out nine batters, his highest total since June 2013, but took the loss after allowing three runs -- two earned -- on six hits over seven innings.

It took a passed ball for the Reds to finally break through for a run after five scoreless innings.

Billy Hamilton led off the visiting sixth and struck out swinging, but was safe at first on the play after Bethancourt dropped the pitch. Zack Cozart followed with a single to left and Joey Votto doubled to easily score Hamilton and make it 1-0.

After Jay Bruce was walked intentionally to load the bases, Miller avoided further damage in the inning by fanning Marlon Byrd and getting Skip Schumaker to line out to left.

Tucker Barnhart and Leake hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning.

"I've never went back-to-back with my battery mate," Barnhart said. "It was fun."

Todd Frazier stroked his second homer of the season in the eighth and Hamilton went yard in the ninth.

Leake didn't allow a hit after the second inning. Tony Cingrani pitched the ninth and served up Freddie Freeman's RBI double that broke up the shutout.

Game Notes

Leake became the first pitcher to hit a home run this season ... Atlanta has dropped three straight games ... Cincinnati finished 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.