CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a home run and the Atlanta Braves used a four-run sixth inning to break open a close contest, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 on Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

The Braves improved to 39-19, while the Reds dropped to 29-27 in front of an announced crowd of 29,996. The game lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes.

Atlanta jumped on Reds starter Chris Paddack immediately. Acuña crushed a 1-0 pitch to left-center field for his fourth home run of the season, putting the Braves ahead 1-0. Paddack, who fell to 0-7 on the season, never found a rhythm.

The Braves added three more runs in the second inning. Dominic Smith singled, Austin Riley walked and Mike Yastrzemski walked to load the bases. Jorge Mateo grounded into a forceout that scored Smith, and Chadwick Tromp lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that brought home Riley. Michael Harris II followed with a single to right field, scoring Mateo and sending Acuña to third, but Matt Olson grounded out to end the inning with Atlanta leading 4-0.

Cincinnati’s offense struggled early against Braves starter Didier Fuentes. The Reds managed only a Tyler Stephenson single through the first three innings, and Fuentes worked around a walk to JJ Bleday in the first.

Fuentes, who earned his fourth win without a loss, finished with six strikeouts over five innings. He allowed three runs on six hits and two walks.

The Reds mounted a comeback in the fourth inning. Bleday led off with his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. Sal Stewart doubled to left, and after a popout, Nathaniel Lowe smashed his ninth homer of the year to right field, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Spencer Steer followed with a single, but Fuentes retired Tyler Stephenson to end the inning.

Cincinnati pulled within one run in the fifth. TJ Friedl bunted for a single, Blake Dunn flied out, and Elly De La Cruz struck out. Bleday singled to right, sending Friedl to third. Stewart then lined a single to right, scoring Friedl and moving Bleday to third. But Eugenio Suárez struck out to strand the tying run.

The Braves answered emphatically in the sixth. Smith singled off Reds reliever Yunior Marte. Riley was hit by a pitch. Yastrzemski doubled to right, scoring Smith and sending Riley to third. Mateo singled to left, driving in Riley and moving Yastrzemski to third. After Tromp struck out, Marte intentionally walked Acuña to load the bases. Harris lined a single to center, scoring Yastrzemski and Mateo and pushing Acuña to second. Olson and Ozzie Albies struck out, but the Braves had pushed the lead to 8-3.

Atlanta’s bullpen took over from there. Robert Suarez pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. Suarez worked around a one-out double by Stewart in the eighth and a two-out single by Stephenson in the ninth, retiring Will Benson and Blake Dunn on flyouts to end the game.

The Braves totaled 13 hits. Harris had three hits and three RBIs. Yastrzemski doubled and scored twice. Acuña reached base three times with the home run and two walks.

The Reds finished with 10 hits. Stewart went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Bleday had two hits, including a home run. Lowe homered and drove in two. Stephenson had two hits. Blake Dunn, Elly De La Cruz, and Dane Myers combined for no hits in 10 at-bats.

Paddack allowed four runs on four hits and three walks over two innings. He struck out none. Cincinnati relievers Caleb Ferguson and Zach Maxwell combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings, with Ferguson allowing one hit and striking out three, and Maxwell striking out one over two hitless innings.

Atlanta entered the game having won two of three at Boston earlier in the week, including a 10-2 victory Thursday. The Braves had lost four of six prior to that series. Cincinnati came off a series split at New York, winning two of three from the Mets, but had lost four of six overall.

The two teams will meet again Saturday at Great American Ball Park for the second game of the three-game series. The Braves then return home for a six-game homestand against Toronto and Pittsburgh. The Reds will host Kansas City on Monday after the series with Atlanta concludes Sunday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Atlanta 6, Cincinnati 5. The ELO system gave Atlanta a 57.00 percent probability to win. Atlanta was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over-under line of 9.5.