Braves wait out review, beat Reds

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves had to wait out a video review of two minutes and seven seconds to see if their 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds was official Friday night.

“I think everyone became a fan in the ninth inning,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of his players watching the Turner Field video board and hoping.

Finally it was confirmed that first baseman Freddie Freeman had held first base on a wide throw from third baseman Chris Johnson the Braves survived after coming close to letting an early five-run lead slip away.

Left fielder Justin Upton hit a three-run homer in the first inning and right-hander Ervin Santana improved to 3-0 before a crowd of 31,111 that grew nervous at the end.

“You don’t like it when (review) goes against you, but you have to like it when it goes your way,” Justin Upton said.

Closer Craig Kimbrel started the ninth inning by giving up a single to Roger Bernardino and walk to Zack Cosart before rallying to post his seventh save in eight opportunities.

Kimbrel struck out Bryan Pena and Chris Heisey before Joey Votto hit a bouncer to Johnson, whose throw was on the right-field side of first base. Votto was called out, but Reds manager Bryan Price challenged that Freeman didn’t hold the bag.

“I had a chance to come up here and look at our own video, which is what they’re getting in New York, and it was a confirmed out call,” Price said. “They got the call right in the end, which is what we’re looking for.

“From our perspective from our bench, it looked like there was a huge gap between Freeman’s foot and the base, but that was after the out had been recorded. He came off when his momentum took him off the base.”

The game could have been tied if the out call had been overturned.

“If he’s safe, I think Bernardino scores on that,” Gonzalez said. “Thankfully we didn’t have to worry about that.”

Santana, signed midway in spring training as a free agent after Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy were lost to elbow injuries, compiled a 0.86 ERA in his first three starts for the Braves.

The veteran American League right-hander, though, was charged with four runs and nine hits this time as he almost let a five-run lead disappear. He struck out seven and walked one as his ERA went to 1.95.

Freeman was 0-for-12 with six strikeouts as he battled eye dryness in the previous series against Miami, but he went 3-for-4 against the Reds after getting relief from steroid drops.

Although Santana allowed four hits in the first three innings, he blanked the Reds until the sixth. A walk, a double by second baseman Brandon Phillips and a single by right fielder Jay Bruce opened the inning, but Santana was able to keep the damage to two runs thanks to a double play.

After speedy center fielder Billy Hamilton turned a two-out hit that scored catcher Devin Masoraco into a double in the seventh, Santana was pulled in favor of lefty Luis Avilan with Votto coming up. The first baseman singled to make it a one-run game.

Mesoraco strained a hamstring rounding third on Votto’s hit and had to leave the game after limping home. Third baseman Todd Frazier had to come out in the fifth because of tightness in his left leg.

Reds starter Homer Bailey, signed to a six-year extension worth $105 million during the offseason, had his fourth wobbly start in five outings. The right-hander, who allowed nine hits and five runs in six innings, is 1-2 with a 6.15 ERA.

In the first inning, Braves right fielder Jason Heyward easily nailed Votto at the plate with a strong throw, turning a potential sacrifice fly into a double play.

The Braves took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning. Justin Upton picked on a misplaced 2-2 changeup from Bailey and smashed his sixth homer of the season over the fence in left-center field after singles by brother B.J. Upton and Freeman.

Heyward had a two-out RBI single in the second after a double by shortstop Andrelton Simmons. In the third, Braves catcher Evan Gattis drove in Freeman with a bloop hit.

Center fielder B.J. Upton, struggling at the plate again this season, wore glasses for the first time and was 1-for-4 with two hard-hit outs.

“We’ll see how the glasses work and if I’ll keep them,” he said. “I could see the ball better on both sides of the plate. It was good tonight.”

NOTES: Cincinnati RHP Alfredo Simon is the subject a $15 million civil suit filed in Washington, D.C., by a women claiming that she was sexually assaulted in April 2013 during a Reds road trip to play the Nationals. Simon, 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA in four starts this season, is next scheduled to pitch on Monday against the Chicago Cubs in Cincinnati. Neither the pitcher nor the Reds have commented on the suit. … Braves pitchers came into the series leading the majors in opposing batting average (.204) and OPS (.525), and the Reds (.205 and .620) were second. … RHP Mike Leake (2-1, 3.49) will start for the Reds in the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday night, with RHP David Hale (0-0, 2.93) going for the Braves. … The Braves had a 4-3 series edge last season over the Reds, including a split of a four-game series at Turner Field. … The Braves, who were off on Thursday after playing 16 consecutive days, get a break again Monday before beginning a series at Miami.