Freeman, Braves top Reds in 13th

Atlanta slugger hits single to drive in the only run of Game 1

Atlanta Freddie Freeman singled home the winning run in the 13th inning, finally ending the longest scoreless duel in postseason history as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 in the opener of their NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.

The East champion Braves won the first game of a postseason series for the first time since the 2001 NL Division Series and can wrap up the bestof-three series on Thursday. If they do, it will snap a recordtying streak of 10 straight playoff-round losses.

What began as a pitching showdown between between Cy Young contenders Trevor Bauer of the Reds and Atlanta’s Max Fried devolved into a strikeout contest.

The teams combined for a postseason record 37 Ks — 21 by the Braves. After a couple of hits in the 13th against Archie Bradley, Freeman drove one into center field off Amir Garrett against a five-man infield with one out to end a game that dragged on for more than 41⁄

2 hours.

A four-time All- Star, Freeman produced another big year in a pandemic-shortened season after a battle with COVID -19 in July so severe that he said he prayed: “Please don’t take me.”

In the 13th, he was in a situation he relishes.

“That’s the guy we want up there,” manager Brian Snitker said.

A.J. Minter escaped a basesloaded, one-out jam in the top of the 13th for the win — the third straight inning the Reds pushed a runner to third but couldn’t get him another 90 feet. “That was a very stressful 41⁄

2 hours,” Freeman said with a chuckle.

The clubs combined to use 14 pitchers and it lasted so long that the lights came on at Truist Park in the 13th — for a game that began just after noon on a sunny, 70-degree day.

It was historic as the first postseason game to be scoreless after 11 innings, but hardly a masterpiece.

With the designated runner at second base no longer in play for postseason games, two teams that rely heavily on the long ball took turns just flailing away at the plate.

Mostly, all they stirred up was a stiff breeze.

“We’re a big-swinging team,” Snitker said. “We slug. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen.”

John Bazemore / AP The Atlanta Braves pour from the dugout as Freddie Freeman runs to first base after hitting his game-winning single vs. Cincinnati on Wednesday.