ATLANTA _ The debut of the Braves' revamped bullpen will have to wait at least another day.
Rain, thunder and lightning stopped Thursday night's game at SunTrust Park after six innings, at which point the Braves led the Cincinnati Reds by three runs with starting pitcher Max Fried still on the mound.
The game never resumed, and when it was called after a one-hour, 46-minute delay, the Braves recorded an official 4-1 win without any need this night for newly acquired relievers Shane Greene, Chris Martin or Mark Melancon.
"Got all that bullpen help, and we didn't even use it," Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman quipped. Fried allowed one run on four hits in six innings, striking out four and walking none, and was credited with the first complete game of his career.
The win improved his record this season to 12-4 and the Braves' record in games he has started to 15-8. "That was a really efficient, nice outing right there," manager Brian Snitker said." He was hopefully going to go seven innings tonight (if not for the weather)."
Snitker said he planned to use one of the newly acquired relievers to get out of the seventh inning if Fried ran into trouble then _ presumably Melancon since he was already throwing in the bullpen _ and then the other newcomers, Martin and Greene, in the eighth and ninth, respectively. But the weather nixed all of that.
Fried got all the offensive support he would need on Freeman's three-run homer in the first inning, Freeman's 26th home run of the season but just his third in 19 games since the All-Star break. While the relievers acquired at this week's trade deadline didn't figure into Thursday's game, a player acquired at last year's deadline continued his recent impact.
Adam Duvall hit a massive 434-foot foot home run to left-center to lead off the bottom of the sixth _ his fifth home run in six games since being promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett on July 27. No one in the major leagues has hit more home runs over that short stretch.
Duvall didn't have the impact the Braves expected in a bench role after he was acquired on July 30, 2018, batting a dismal .132 (7-for-53) with no home runs and just one extra-base hit and no RBI over the season's final two months.
He didn't make the team in spring training this year and remained at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he belted 29 home runs in 94 games, until Nick Markakis' broken wrist led the Braves to recall him on July 27.
Since then, he is hitting .480 (12-for-25, including the five homers) and seven RBIs. "He has absolutely been fantastic these six games," Freeman said.
"I don't see it slowing it down, I really don't. That swing looks too quiet, too easy, right now, and he's seeing the ball great. I mean, obviously, he's not going to hit .480. But I think he's going to be able to help us for the rest of the season."
Duvall's hard work at Gwinnett is clearly paying off. "I'm excited to be back," Duvall said. "I just wanted to contribute and do what I can do and drive in runs and play good defense and help my team win. "It means a lot (to contribute) because obviously with (Markakis) going down that's a big blow to the team. I wanted to be able to come up and contribute right away. I've been able to do that so far, so hopefully we'll keep it going."
The Braves and Reds will play again Friday night at SunTrust Park, the second game of a four-game series. Kevin Gausman (3-6, 5.97) is scheduled to start for the Braves against the Reds' Alex Wood (0-0, 3.86).
