ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr. added to his collection of monstrous home runs, and Austin Riley provided the reminder his slumping bat still has power. But Kevin Gausman’s latest ugly start proved to be too much for the Braves to overcome in a 5-2 loss to the Reds on Friday night at SunTrust Park.

“I’m not having the year that anybody thought I would,” Gausman said. “I’m not in the situation I want to be right now. We play again tomorrow. I’m going to get the ball again in five days again hopefully.”

As the Braves attempt to preserve their somewhat comfortable National League East lead, they need to decide what to do with Gausman, who allowed the Reds five earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. They also must determine the best option for Riley, whose fifth-inning homer off Alex Wood didn’t decrease the likelihood he could be sent to Triple-A Gwinnett within the next few days.

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But the Braves don’t have any concerns regarding Acuna, who damaged Wood with a sixth-inning solo shot that traveled a projected 463 feet with a 115.5 mph exit velocity. It was the hardest-hit home run recorded by a Braves player since Statcast began collecting this data in 2015. The 466-foot homer Acuna hit in Arizona on May 10 stands as the longest hit by an Atlanta player within this span.

Acuna’s majestic shot served as one of the few highlights for the Braves. Here are the two pressing questions coming out of this latest loss.

What is Gausman’s immediate future?
Asked whether Gausman will make his next scheduled turn on Wednesday against the mighty Twins lineup, Braves manager Brian Snitker said he needed to discuss plans with general manager Alex Anthopoulos. The discussion might have been scheduled when Joey Votto hit a two-run homer before Friday’s first out was recorded.

Gausman created some encouragement when he came off the injured list to produce seven strong innings against the Nationals on July 21. But as he’s allowed at least five earned runs in both of the two starts that have followed, he’s looked more like the pitcher who allowed 17 earned runs over the last 8 1/3 innings (three starts) he completed before being shut down for six weeks with plantar fasciitis.

The Braves could give Wednesday’s start against the Twins to Bryse Wilson, Atlanta's No. 6 prospect, who allowed one earned run over six innings for Gwinnett on Friday night. There’s also a chance Gausman could get another start to provide the team a chance to line his schedule up with that of Mike Foltynewicz, who is scheduled to start on Sunday for Gwinnett.

Gausman has conceded he may have to ditch the curveball he attempted to develop while on the IL. The cutter he’s attempted to add to his two-pitch arsenal (four-seamer and splitter) has not yet moved enough to be detected by TrackMan’s radar system. But the veteran right-hander has been attempting to create some right-to-left movement with his four-seamer, which has natural left-to-right movement.

“I think that’s going to be a big pitch for me,” Gausman said. “My fastball comes back. So, if I can have something that even stays true I think that will be a lot tougher on guys.”

Might Riley stay?
Given the fact Riley produced a meager .480 OPS and struck out in 46.9 percent of his at-bats in July, it hasn’t been hard to project he’s the most likely candidate to be sent down when Dansby Swanson is activated from the IL.

Swanson is eligible to be activated Saturday. But because the shortstop felt some lingering right heel discomfort when he ran Friday afternoon, he may be given a couple extra days to rest.

“You can’t think like that,” Riley said. “You take it day by day. Whatever happens, happens. I’m just going to go out there, keep working and get better.”

Riley looked much better as he swung at just one of the seven pitches he saw outside the strike zone on Friday. The 22-year-old slugger drew a 3-0 count before hitting a 3-2 fastball that Nick Senzel caught at the center-field wall in the third. He then took a first-pitch changeup before drilling a 1-1 curveball over the left-field wall in the fifth.

Riley’s solo shot was his 17th homer of the season and first since July 6. He has started only against left-handers since Ender Inciarte returned from the IL two weeks ago. The Braves realize the significant value he brought when he homered 14 times and produced a .930 OPS over his first 42 games dating back to his May 15 debut. But to rekindle that success, it might be best for him to spend the next couple weeks getting right by playing every day for Gwinnett.

Regardless of what the Braves decide to do, Snitker has been impressed by the diligence Riley has shown while struggling.

“He’s staying positive,” Snitker said. “It’s not easy to go through that. He’ll be all the better for it by going through it. When you’re doing that, it’s a rough go. But he’s handled it really well, very maturely.”