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Walk-off home run
Reds' Frazier beats Braves, 2-1, with blast
Braves Reds Baseball Heal
Cincinnati Reds' Todd Frazier (21) jumps toward home plate after hitting a walk-off home run off Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Cristhian Martinez in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Cincinnati. The Reds, won 2-1. - photo by Associated Press


    CINCINNATI — Todd Frazier paused for an on-field interview after rounding the bases and got a face full of shaving cream from a Reds teammate.
    Can't see? No problem. Second baseman Brandon Phillips followed with an over-the-head dousing with one of the dugout water coolers.
    So, that's what it's like to hit a game-ending homer.
    Frazier connected on his first game-ender with one out in the ninth inning Wednesday night, extending Cincinnati's best surge of the season with a 2-1 victory that left the Atlanta Braves in disbelief over the Reds' homer-cozy ballpark.
    "When he got that ball up, you knew it had a chance, especially in this ballpark," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
    The Reds won their fifth in a row, leaving them five games over .500 (24-19) for the first time this season.
    Frazier hit a solo shot on the second pitch from Cristhian Martinez (2-1), who came on to start the ninth. It was a fitting ending for a series that has been decided by solo homers — 11 in all during the three games.
    This one barely cleared the wall in right field, landing in the first row of seats an estimated 355 feet away.
    "I knew when I hit it that I got a lot of it," Frazier said. "I was hoping it was enough. It just got over. Fine with me."
    Aroldis Chapman (4-0) kept his earned-run average perfect by fanning two of the three he faced in the ninth. The left-hander hasn't allowed an earned run in 24 1/3 innings, ascending to the closer's role.
    The Reds will try for a four-game sweep today. They haven't swept the Braves in Cincinnati since the 1980 season.
    "Right now, we're rolling," said the Reds' Bronson Arroyo, who gave up four hits in 6 2/3 innings. "But it's a roller coaster, you know."
    The series has been an extended game of home run derby, with the Reds getting the best of it. There have been 12 homers in the three games, eight of them by Cincinnati.
    Frazier's opposite-field homer would have been an out in most other ballparks. At Great American, it was a game-winner.
    "Tough loss," said Braves starter Tommy Hanson, who gave up four hits in six innings. "But there's only so much you can do. It kind of (stinks) to see that ball go into the first row and that's how the game is determined.
    "But that's the ballpark we're playing in and we have to deal with it."
    Atlanta's Dan Uggla continued the big-swing trend in the fourth, hitting a solo homer deep into the upper deck in left field for a 1-0 lead.