Braves 4, Reds 1: Justin Upton went 3-for-3 with a homer and rookie David Hale allowed two hits over eight innings as host Atlanta won for the sixth time in eight games.

Hale (1-0) allowed both hits and his only run in the first inning, retiring 21 of the final 22 hitters he faced before Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his eighth save. Freddie Freeman blasted a two-run homer in the first, and Upton and Evan Gattis belted back-to-back homers off Cincinnati starter Mike Leake (2-2) in the third.

Leake surrendered four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in seven innings. Ryan Ludwick drove home a run with a first-inning double.

Hale gave up a single in the first to Brandon Phillips, who scored when Ludwick lined a double off the wall in center. But Hale got Brayan Pena to ground out to end the inning and never was seriously threatened again, allowing just a fourth-inning walk to Jay Bruce before setting down his final 14 hitters.

Atlanta vaulted ahead 2-1 in the home half of the first on Freeman’s sixth homer of the season, a towering two-run shot to center. Upton connected with two outs in the third, his seventh homer of the season sailing over the wall in center, and Gattis followed four pitches later with his sixth of the season into the left-field seats.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ludwick reached above the left-field wall to rob Freeman of a homer in the third, right before Upton and Gattis went deep. … The Reds placed C Devin Mesoraco (strained left hamstring) on the disabled list before the game, promoting C Tucker Barnhart from Triple-A Louisville. … Atlanta CF B.J. Upton recorded his 1,000th career hit on an infield single in the first and scored on Freeman’s homer.