August 2, 2025: Braves overcome rain, Reds in MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol

In the 1988 movie Bull Durham, Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh, played by actor Tim Robbins, described baseball to a reporter: “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”1 As it turned out, the state of Tennessee’s first regular-season game involving National or American League teams would involve all three.2

Bristol Motor Speedway would be the host for this historic game. Despite its main use for auto racing, a ball sport at the racetrack was not new: in 2016, Bristol hosted 156,990 fans for a college football game, an NCAA record at the time.3 The success of that game – along with MLB’s own push to play games in “unconventional, memorable settings” – inspired MLB to begin discussions over baseball at the track.4 Those discussions culminated in a temporary ball field heading to Bristol. The field had standard dimensions – 330 feet down the lines, 400 feet to center field – save for its location on the flat surface inside of Bristol’s race track.5

Similar to the track’s NCAA football attendance record, a regular-season record crowd of 91,032 fans traveled to Bristol for this game, breaking the previous high of 85,265 fans for the September 9, 1928, doubleheader between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Athletics.6 Those fans who traveled to see the two MLB teams closest to Bristol, Tennessee, would end up witnessing a series finale unlike any other.

The Braves, a playoff team in every season since 2018 and the 2021 World Series champions, came to Bristol with a 46-63 record and little hope for postseason baseball.7 Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds – the game’s designated home team – were still in the NL’s wild-card race. The teams split the series’ first two games, both played at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. Terry Francona – in his first season as Reds manager – led the club into this Saturday afternoon matchup with a 58-53 record and a 12.7 percent chance to make the postseason.8 The Reds had made several trades to add to their roster at the previous week’s trade deadline, as they hoped to qualify for their first postseason berth in a 162-game season since 2013.9

The game was expected to feature two starting pitchers with ties to eastern Tennessee. The Braves planned to send Knoxville native Spencer Strider to the mound.10 Meanwhile, the Reds planned to start University of Tennessee alum Chase Burns.11 But, these plans were changed when rain began falling immediately after the ceremonial first pitch, leading to a two-hour delay.

After the rain subsided, the rookie Burns still took the mound for Cincinnati and retired the side in the top of the first. The Braves chose not to start Strider – who had already missed time twice earlier in the season due to injuries – after the delay and instead turned to Austin Cox. With one out, singles from Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, and Austin Hays gave the Reds a 1-0 lead. That would be it for night one, as more rain fell on Bristol, which eventually caused the game to be suspended overnight.

As the action resumed the following afternoon, the Braves sent Hurston Waldrep — a starting pitcher newly added to the roster from triple-A Gwinnett – to the mound in Cox’s place.12 After arriving in Bristol three hours before he took to the mound, Waldrep finished the first inning without the Reds scoring.13

Reliever Brent Suter began the second inning on the mound for the Reds. After two outs, Suter allowed singles to Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies. This brought up Eli White, who hit a three-run home run, his fifth of the season, to give the Braves a 3-1 lead.

The Reds responded in the bottom of the second. Tyler Stephenson drew a one-out walk. Ke’Bryan Hayes – one of the Reds’ trade deadline acquisitions – singled Stephenson to second. A TJ Friedl walk loaded the bases for McLain, who hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-2.

Both teams were retired in order in the third. Following two outs to begin the top of the fourth, a Harris double led to Francona replacing Suter with Luis Mey. Mey struck out Albies to keep the score at 3-2.

Waldrep faced the minimum in the bottom of the fourth. Despite both teams reaching base in the fifth inning, neither team scored.

Sam Moll replaced Mey to begin the sixth; after allowing a Drake Baldwin single, he recorded three straight outs. Waldrep followed suit, allowing only a leadoff single to pinch hitter Gavin Lux.

Scott Barlow replaced Moll in the top of the seventh, and Eli White homered on Barlow’s second pitch. White’s second home run of the game increased the Braves’ lead to 4-2. Despite a triple from Jurickson Profar, the Braves were unable to add further runs.

Righty Pierce Johnson took the mound for the Braves in the bottom of the seventh. He allowed a single and recorded two outs before being replaced by southpaw Dylan Lee. Brought in to face De La Cruz – who slugged 144 points better against righties than lefties in 2025 – Lee induced a fly out to end the inning.

Following a clean eighth from new reliever Lyon Richardson – who, like Waldrep, was also called up the night before – the  Reds pushed to overcome the two-run deficit with a two-out rally in their half of the inning.14 Noelvi Marté began the rally with a single, which ended Lee’s day. Tyler Kinley replaced Lee on the mound. After Marté stole second, Kinley walked Spencer Steer and then balked to move both men in scoring position. Another walk, this time to Stephenson, loaded the bases for Hayes, who had two hits already on the day. This at-bat would not be his third; he grounded out to end the inning.

Richardson finished the top of the ninth allowing only a walk, which brought Raisel Iglesias to the mound to close the game for the Braves. He faced trouble early, with both Friedl and McLain hitting singles to start the inning. But Iglesias induced three straight outs to end the game.

Waldrep earned the win for the Braves with his 5⅔ innings of one-run ball, marking his first career MLB victory.15 Johnson, Lee, and Kinley all recorded holds for their efforts – the 10th of the season for Johnson and Lee and 9th for Kinley. Iglesias was credited with his 14th save of the year. Suter was charged with the loss for the Reds, dropping his record to 1-2.

This result did not change either team’s fortunes. The Braves’ 76-86 final record marked Atlanta’s first losing season since 2017. The season also concluded Brian Snitker’s managerial career following almost a decade in charge of the Braves, as he retired into an advisory role with Atlanta.16

Meanwhile, despite a sub-.500 record for the remainder of the season and a final-day loss to the Milwaukee Brewers jeopardizing their playoff hopes, a New York Mets defeat later that day allowed the 83-79 Reds to overcome a six-game deficit to the Mets and make the playoffs as a wild card.17 That playoff run was short-lived, as the Reds were swept in the Wild Card round by the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Author’s Note

I was less than a year into my time living in Knoxville, Tennessee, when this game came to Bristol. I bought a last-minute ticket and made the two-hour journey on one night’s notice to take in the grandeur of the event. Having grown up a diehard NASCAR fan, seeing baseball at a track I watched races at with my father – in spite of sitting so far in the outfield that the players appeared to be the size of bobbleheads – was surreal. Through all of the rain, the midnight drive home after no baseball, and another two-hour round trip to finish the game the following day, the game remains one of the most memorable MLB games I have ever attended.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Carl Riechers and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Photo credits: Alexander Harriman.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com for information on the history of the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds along with other pertinent material and the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN202508020.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2025/B08020CIN2025.htm

Notes

1“Nuke LaLoosh,” BaseballReference.com, accessed December 7, 2025, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Nuke_LaLoosh.

2 This was not Tennessee’s first major league game: the Negro Leagues’ Memphis Red Sox and Nashville Elite Giants both played in leagues retroactively considered major leagues by MLB in 2020.

3 Grant Ramey, “Reflecting on the ‘Spectacle’ That Was the Battle at Bristol”, Knoxville News Sentinel, September 11, 2016, https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2016/09/11/reflecting-on-the-spectacle-that-was-the-battle-at-bristol/91063940/.

4 “MLB Speedway Classic ’25 Coming to Historic Bristol,” MLB.com, August 9, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-speedway-classic-2025-announced.

5 Following the game, the field was transported to and reassembled for East Tennessee State University, where it remains as of the date of publishing.

6 Jim Gates, “Clicking Turnstiles,” National Baseball Hall of Fame, November 20, 2023, https://baseballhall.org/clicking-turnstiles.

7 The Braves had a 0.1% chance to make the playoffs, according to Fangraphs’ MLB Playoff Odds.

8 “MLB Playoff Odds August 2nd, 2025,” Fangraphs.com, accessed December 18, 2025, https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds?date=2025-08-02&dateDelta=.

9 The Reds qualified for the expanded playoffs after the 60-game 2020 season.

10 Brian Murphy. “What You Need to Know About Tonight’s MLB Speedway Classic,” MLB.com, August 2, 2025, https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-vs-reds-at-2025-mlb-speedway-classic-bristol-date-channel?msockid=2191e1e204f768992355f38305de694c.

11 Murphy.

12 Associated Press, “Waldrep’s Whirlwind Day: From a 4:45 a.m. Wake-Up to Earning His First MLB win at a NASCAR venue,” apnews.com, August 3, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-braves-hurston-waldrep-bristol-41528a6cd54d1fc265ad7861ec2918a5.

13 Tim Hayes.

14 Pat Brennan, “A Soggy Reality; Delayed Classic Makes Reds Playoff Road Even Tougher,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 4, 2025.

15 Associated Press, “Waldrep’s Whirlwind Day.”

16 Bowman, Mark. “Snitker Steps Down as Skipper for Advisor Role, Will Enter Braves HOF in 2026,” MLB.com, October 1, 2025, https://www.mlb.com/news/brian-snitker-will-not-return-as-braves-manager?msockid=376576fb139b678a33e363f1129c66d4. Snitker’s advisory role in 2026 marked 50 consecutive years working for the Braves in various capacities.

17 Mike Axisa. “Reds Clinch MLB Playoff Spot, Take Advantage of Mets’ Collapse to Secure Wild Card Berth,” CBS Sports, September 28, 2025, https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/reds-clinch-mlb-playoff-spot-take-advantage-of-mets-collapse-to-secure-wild-card-berth/.