Braves blank Cincinnati as pitcher flirts with no-hitter

LOS ANGELES: AJ Smith-Shawver carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves defeated the visiting Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Monday in the opener of their three-game series.

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Smith-Shawver (2-2) pitched a career-high eight innings and allowed no runs on one hit — a leadoff single by Santiago Espinal in the eighth — with four walks and five strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Matt Olson collected an inside-the-park home run on an unusual play in which Reds rookie left fielder Tyler Callihan stretched out for the catch, temporarily had the ball in his glove, but slammed into the side wall. Callihan broke his left forearm on the play as Olson came around to score.

Cincinnati's Brady Singer (4-2) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits.

Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each drilled two-run homers as Los Angeles defeated hosts Miami 7-4 in the opener of a three-game series.