ATLANTA -- The Braves are capable of making a deep postseason run with their starting rotation. But their offense might prevent them from even making the playoffs.

Instead of building off the momentum of Sunday’s comeback win over the Blue Jays, the Braves failed to get anything going offensively in a 1-0 loss to the Reds on Monday night at Truist Park. They tallied just two hits and squandered 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball from Charlie Morton. The Braves now trail the Mets, who defeated the Blue Jays on Monday, by one game for the third and final NL Wild Card spot.

Morton is tied for fourth among Modern Era pitchers in hit by pitches because of the frequency with which he has hit opposing batters with back-foot breaking balls. His latest incident against the Reds proved costly. Morton hit TJ Friedl’s back left foot with a curveball to begin the second inning before Ty France followed with an RBI double.

France's double sliced down the right-field line and came to rest after rolling into foul territory and hitting the wall where it jets back out toward right field. Friedl was rounding third base as Jorge Soler got to the ball, but Soler’s throw pulled Sean Murphy to the right side of the plate, allowing Friedl to score without a tag.

Reds starter Nick Martinez limited the Braves to two hits while tying a season high with seven innings of scoreless ball. Matt Olson accounted for both of the Braves' hits, the first coming on a single in the first and the second on a 57.8 mph dribbler in the seventh.

Atlanta now travels to Washington on Tuesday for a two-game set against the Nationals.