Braves' Freddie Freeman completes cycle with 11th-inning single

ATLANTA -- Extra innings gave Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman the chance to do what no other Atlanta player had done in nearly eight years.

Freeman completed the cycle with a leadoff single in the 11th inning against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. He doubled in the third, tripled in the fourth and hit his 11th homer in the sixth.

"It would have meant nothing if we didn't win," he said after the Braves prevailed 9-8 in 13 innings.

Freeman is the first player in the majors to hit for the cycle this season. He is the first Atlanta player to hit for the cycle since Mark Kotsay against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 14, 2008.

The only other Braves player to hit for the cycle since 1911 was Albert Hall in 1987, according to Elias Sports Bureau data. Freeman is the seventh player to do so in the 141-year history of the Braves franchise.

Following Freeman's single in the 11th, the Braves loaded the bases with no outs but could not score. They eventually finished off the Reds in the 13th inning, when Chase d'Arnaud's bases-loaded single capped a three-run rally.

"When we got down in the 13th, I'm sure a lot of people didn't think we'd come back to win that game," Freeman said.

The Braves, who have the worst record in the majors, snapped a four-game losing streak in a game even Reds manager Bryan Price had to appreciate.

"For entertainment value, that had to have been one of the great games of the season," Price said.

Freeman was 4-for-7 on the night, with two runs scored, two strikeouts and no walks.

He scored in the third when Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani was hindered by first baseman Joey Votto's off-target throw to the plate, which was recorded as an error. Freeman's opposite-field homer into the first row of the left-field seats tied the game at 6 in the sixth.

He reached first base in the 12th, but the Reds appealed the call that he was safe. After a brief review, the call was overturned.

Freeman also came close to the cycle in the series opener against the Reds on Monday, when he had a homer, double and single.

"It seems I always need a triple," said Freeman, who had no triples in 2015 but has two this season.

Freeman also has 11 home runs, seven of which have come at Turner Field. The rest of the Braves have eight homers at home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.