“I thought he was good,” Shelton said. “I think the heat got to him. The fact that he got through the fifth was huge for us, because in the fourth, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody that red on the mound. It was hot. The fact that he was able to get through the fifth ... and he got a couple of double play balls, which were important.”

The 27-year-old left-hander remained committed to the glove side of the plate, where he attacked Braves hitters with a strong serving of fastballs and sliders. The latter was his most effective pitch, generating six whiffs and three of his five strikeouts.

“I held it a little bit deeper and it’s been moving a little bit more right for me, instead of being like a cutter,” Falter said of his slider. “We’re getting some good results with it.”

Falter’s lone allowed run came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when he surrendered a leadoff walk to Marcell Ozuna. A single to deep left from Matt Olsen allowed Ozuna to go from first to third, setting him up to score the game’s first run on a double-play ball hit by Austin Riley.

At the plate

Cruz’s home run snapped an 0-for-13 streak at the plate. The big swing produced an exit velocity of 117.3 mph and sent the ball 452 feet to right field. The Pirates shortstop tallied one more hit in the top of the seventh, finishing the afternoon 2 for 3 with a walk.

“It’s a constant battle as a player,” Cruz said with major league coach Stephen Morales translating. “You go through some rough times and you have to go out there and do your best. And you can have good games in a row and not have the results. It’s a constant battle, and today, it went my way.”

Tellez, meanwhile, sent his home run 421 feet to right field with an exit velocity of 108.9 mph. The homer concluded a strong month at the plate for the once-struggling first baseman, finishing June 22 for 66 (.333) with three home runs and 14 RBIs.

“I think at the beginning of the year we thought he was going to be a guy that was going to hit in the middle of the order,” Shelton said. “He had a tough couple of months, but he’s continuing to bounce back and have big at-bats for us.”

On the note of strong June efforts, Reynolds concluded the month with an 0-for-4 effort at the plate, ending his career-best hit streak at 25 games. Reynolds’ streak was the longest of any MLB player this season. He went 35 for 106 (.330) in June, smashing six home runs and tallying 16 RBIs.

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