Ryan Hanigan's wacky double in seventh inning rallies Reds over Braves 5-2
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Ryan Hanigan hit a tiebreaking double during a wacky seventh-inning rally on Saturday, and the Cincinnati Reds held on for a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves, who lost leadoff hitter Martin Prado to injury but made a trade to upgrade their outfield and bullpen.
Center field was the problem in this one.
Hanigan doubled to the wall in center off Jair Jurrjens (3-4), who has yet to win on the road. Two runs scored while Melky Cabrera chased the ball to the wall. When the outfielder turned and threw quickly, the ball slipped from his hand and rolled across the outfield, allowing the catcher to chug home.
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Bronson Arroyo (11-6) gave up five hits in seven innings against a struggling offense now missing its most productive hitter.
Francisco Cordero, who took the loss in Atlanta's 6-4 win on Friday night, got booed when he was introduced to start the ninth. He gave up a pair of singles, then got Jason Heyward on a called third strike for his 28th save in 34 tries.
Heyward had doubled home a pair of runs in the 10th inning off Cordero for Atlanta's win the previous night.
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The Braves will be without Prado for at least a week. Tests on Saturday found he broke the second knuckle on his right pinkie when he slid headfirst into home plate on Friday night. Prado leads the league in hits, ranks third with a .315 average, and leads the majors with 44 multihit games.
As the game began, the Braves made a five-player deal with Kansas City to improve their outfield and an already formidable bullpen, getting Rick Ankiel and hard-throwing Kyle Farnsworth.
Cincinnati entered the day a half-game behind St. Louis in the NL Central. The Reds made no moves before the non-waiver trade deadline Saturday — a couple of potential deals for relievers fell through.
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Then, they pulled out a strange win.
Jurrjens took a 2-1 lead into the seventh, in line for his first road win of the season. The right-hander is 0-4 in seven road starts.
Scott Rolen homered in the fourth and doubled to start the go-ahead rally in the seventh. Jay Bruce singled to tie it, and Hanigan doubled off a padded fence post in center. He kept going when the ball slipped out of Cabrera's hand and rolled across the outfield for a two-base error.
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Hanigan completed the breathtaking play by sliding into home, then popping up quickly and smacking his hands together. He panted in the dugout while laughing teammates congratulated him.
The Reds drew their second straight capacity crowd. They expect to sell out the weekend series on Sunday, the first time they've had three consecutive sellouts since 2004, when Ken Griffey Jr. was trying for his 500th homer.
Notes: The Braves sent reliever Jesse Chavez, OF Gregor Blanco and minor league pitcher Tim Collins to the Royals. ... In a separate deal, Atlanta got OF Wilkin Ramirez from Detroit for a player to be named or cash. Wilken was assigned to Triple-A. ... The Reds honored Braves manager Bobby Cox at home plate before the game. Cox, who is retiring after his 29th season as a manager, got a standing ovation from the crowd of 41,611.