Ozuna homers, Urshela drives in 3 as Braves beat Reds 7-1

CINCINNATI (AP) — Marcell Ozuna homered, Gio Urshela drove in three runs and Spencer Schwellenbach pitched six innings of one-run ball as the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Wednesday night.

The win allowed the Braves to stay within two games of the Mets and Diamondbacks for the final National League wild card spot.

The Braves are 1-4 against the Reds this season.

Ozuna greeted Tony Santillan (2-3) with his 38th home run of the season in the seventh, a solo shot that broke a 1-1 tie. The blast ended Ozuna's home run drought at 26 games and his RBI drought at 19 games. Urshela drove in two runs with a bases loaded single, pushing the lead to 4-1 after seven.

In the eighth, Michael Harris II homered and Ozuna doubled to knock in Eli White and record his 100th RBI of the season.

“It means a lot, you know, after last year, the rough start,” Ozuna said. “All year it has been amazing and special for me. I have the confidence. I come every day to play the game. It is up and down every time in baseball. It is hard. You have to have patience and have fun."

“I’m happy for him to get that 100th out of the way," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I’ve never experienced that, but I can imagine how guys want to get that. He might go on a tear now that he got that out of the way.”

Urshela drove in his third run with a ground-rule double in the ninth.

Schwellenbach (7-7) made his 19th start for the Braves. In six innings, he allowed one run on five hits while striking out five and walking two.

“These are the games I want to pitch in,” Schwellenbach said. “I have over 150 innings. I feel like I've hit a new wave, I guess."

Schwellenbach only pitched 65 innings in his first year of professional baseball. He threw 45 innings in the minors this season and has now logged 109 innings in the majors

“He's been as valuable as anybody,” Snitker said. “I'm glad he got out of the sixth (first and third with two outs). When you get in a close game like that, you never know what's going to happen. The guys could rally like we did and get him a win. I thought he was really, really good again tonight.”

The Reds managed three hits in the first five innings and pushed their only run across in the sixth. Elly De La Cruz hit his ninth triple into the right field corner to lead off the inning. De La Cruz scored on TJ Friedl's safety squeeze.

Jakob Junis made his fourth start for the Reds. He was pressed into a starting role when Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo were injured. Junis retired the first 11 Braves batters before Ozuna doubled. Matt Olson’s single to center broke the scoreless tie in the fourth.

Junis pitched six innings, allowing just two hits. He retired 18 of the 20 batters he faced.

“We got really nice pitching from Jakob for sure,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I think the story of the game was their young pitcher was really tough on us tonight. We couldn't get much going. TJ made a nice play getting Elly in. That was pretty much it.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Braves: Ozzie Albies made his first rehab start Tuesday night. “He hit off lefties all night. Everything was good. I hope he can get some right on right at bats, tonight," Snitker said.

Reds: The Reds are deciding whether Greene will make a start Sunday.

UP NEXT

The finale of the three-game series on Thursday afternoon will feature the Reds' rookie Julian Aguiar (2-0, 4.88 ERA) against Braves' veteran Chris Sale (17-3, 2.35 ERA).

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Atlanta Braves' Orlando Arcia scores from second base on a hit by teammate Gio Urshela against the Cincinnati Reds during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds' TJ Friedl grounds out against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds left fielder Spencer Steer catches a fly ball hit by Atlanta Braves' Ramón Laureano during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Jakob Junis throws against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach throws against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson catches the ball to get Cincinnati Reds' Ty France out during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Atlanta Braves' Orlando Arcia hits a ground ball against the Cincinnati Reds during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Ozuna homers, Urshela drives in 3 as Braves beat Reds 7-1

Ozuna homers, Urshela drives in 3 as Braves beat Reds 7-1

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson, right, celebrates his home run against the Cincinnati Reds with teammate Marcell Ozuna during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

A mission specialist for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year told the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday that the firm was staffed by competent people who wanted to “make dreams come true.”

Renata Rojas was the latest person to testify who was connected to Titan owner OceanGate. An investigatory panel had previously listened to two days of testimony that raised questions about the company's operations before the doomed mission. OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among five people who died when the submersible imploded en route to the site of the Titanic wreck in June 2023.

Rojas' testimony struck a different tone than some of the earlier witnesses, who described the company as troubled from the top down and focused more on profit than science or safety.

“I was learning a lot and working with amazing people,” Rojas said. “Some of those people are very hardworking individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true.”

Rojas also said she felt the company was sufficiently transparent during the run-up to the Titanic dive. Her testimony was emotional at times, with the Coast Guard panel proposing a brief break at one point so she could collect herself.

Rojas is a member of the Explorers Club, which lost members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet in the Titan implosion. The club described Rush as “a friend of The Explorers Club” after the implosion.

“I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation,” Rojas said in testimony Thursday.

Earlier this month, the Coast Guard opened a public hearing that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began on Sept. 16 and some of the testimony has focused on problems the company had prior to the fatal 2023 dive.

Investigators also released underwater footage of the submersible wreck. The footage shows the submersible's tail cone and other debris on the ocean floor.

During the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said Tuesday he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.

“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”

Also expected to testify on Thursday is former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross. The hearing is expected to run through Friday with more witnesses still to come and resume next week.

Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a company led by people who were impatient to get the unconventionally designed craft into the water. The deadly accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.

During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual recreation presented earlier in the hearing.

When the submersible was reported missing, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Four days later, wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

No one on board survived. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were the other two people killed in the implosion.

OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began. The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.

This June 2023 United States Coast Guard still frame from video provided by Pelagic Research Services, shows remains of the Titan submersible, center, on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard Video courtesy Pelagic Research Services via AP)

This June 2023 United States Coast Guard still frame from video provided by Pelagic Research Services, shows remains of the Titan submersible, center, on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard Video courtesy Pelagic Research Services via AP)

In a still from from a video animation provided by the United States Coast Guard an illustration of the Titan submersible, right, is shown near the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean, as June 18, 2023 communications between the submersible and the support vessel Polar Prince, not shown, are represented at left. (United States Coast Guard via AP)

This June 2023 image provided by Pelagic Research Services shows remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (Pelagic Research Services via AP)