Reds turn to Nick Lodolo to salvage series against Braves

The Atlanta Braves rolled into Great American Ball Park on Friday with the most wins in Major League Baseball and the league’s best winning percentage, too. So far, they’ve done nothing in their time in Cincinnati to diminish either count.

Atlanta claimed Friday’s series opener by the score of 8-3 and backed it up with a 5-2 win on Saturday, too. On Sunday, they’ll send Spencer Strider to the mound with a sweep on the mind.

Cincinnati will counter with lefty Nick Lodolo, who has slowly but surely begun to round into form after blister issues caused him to miss the entire month of April while recovering. His most recent outing against the New York Mets saw him finally dial-in the strike zone as he threw 6.0 IP of 6 H, ER, 0 BB, 7 K ball, the lone blemish against him being a 6th inning solo homer by Marcus Semien . Most important, though, were the lack of walks, as he’d walked 8 in just 9.2 IP across his previous two starts.

If there’s ever an indication that Lodolo is ‘on,’ it’s when he’s pounding the zone and not walking a soul, something he made a habit of during his breakout 2025. Cincinnati will hope upon hope that’s what they get from him on Sunday, as a loss would not only result in a sweep at home, but also would sink the Reds all the way back to the .500 mark for the season.

Here’s how the Reds will line up for the finale, with the return of Will Benson to the lineup to start and Spencer Steer again at 2B in lieu of the struggling Matt McLain :