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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves are in unfamiliar territory
and floundering.
The Braves fell out of first place in the NL East for the first
time since April 19, losing to the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Thursday
night on Sean Casey's tiebreaking double in a four-run sixth
inning.
|  | | Andres Galarraga is knocked down by Reds relief pitcher Danny Graves as catcher Jason LaRue looks on in the ninth inning Tuesday. |
Atlanta dropped a half-game behind the idle New York Mets. The
Braves lost three of four to Cincinnati, going 2-6 on a homestand
that left them with a 14-15 record in August.
This is first time since 1993 the Braves have not been in first
place this late in the season. Atlanta has won eight straight
division titles.
The Reds, held hitless for four innings by starter Kevin
Millwood (8-10), overcame a 2-0 deficit with a four-run sixth
inning.
"It'll be nice to get away from here for a few games,"
Millwood said as the Braves prepared for a flight to Houston for a
three-game series. "Hopefully, we'll have a good road trip, come back and have a
better homestand. We had a chance to take a little
lead in our division. The guys got me a lead and I didn't hold it."
Millwood broke his nose in a bunting drill Monday and was not
expected to make his scheduled start. But after throwing off the
mound Wednesday, he said he was ready. He was until the sixth.
"I was pitching pretty well and I thought I made some good
pitches in the sixth, but they hit a couple of balls where we
weren't," said Millwood.
Rookie John Riedling (1-0) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of
relief, helped by a baserunning blunder by Andruw Jones in the
sixth.
Rafael Furcal opened the Atlanta sixth with a walk and Jones,
who earlier hit his 30th homer of the season, was hit by a pitch.
Chipper Jones then flied out to Dmitri Young at the left-field wall
and Andruw Jones raced past second base but failed to touch it on
his return to first and was ruled out.
"I never heard of the rule that you have to touch the bag,"
said Andruw Jones. "I never had to do it before. I just went
behind the bag. I never touched it the first time or the second
time."
Andres Galarraga followed with a walk and B.J. Surhoff blooped
an RBI single off reliever Dennys Reyes. Scott Sullivan relieved
and struck out Javy Lopez on three pitches.
Sullivan walked the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh
before striking out Chipper Jones to end the threat. Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his 24th save.
"We caught the Braves in a little funk," said Reds second
baseman Pokey Reese. "But with a great manager like Bobby Cox,
they'll eventually start playing well again."
The Reds had done little until the sixth, when Reese led off
with a single and Chris Stynes doubled.
Ken Griffey Jr. followed with an RBI groundout and Dmitri Young
singled home a run. Casey doubled for a 4-2 lead and one out later,
Benito Santiago hit an RBI single.
The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off Reds starter
Pete Harnisch when Furcal led off with a walk and Andruw Jones
homered.
Harnisch left in the third inning after being struck on the
lower right leg by a one-hop shot off the bat of Furcal. X-rays of Harnisch's leg were negative. He went 2 2/3 innings
and gave up the one hit and two runs.
Game notes
The start of the game was delayed 25 minutes by rain. ...
The Braves recalled three players from Triple-A Richmond, IF Steve
Sisco, OF George Lombard and RHP Jason Marquis and purchased the
contract of C Mike Hubbard from Richmond. The four will report to
the club in Houston on Friday when rosters can expand from 25
players to 40. ... The Reds won a series in Atlanta for the first
time since taking two of three in May 1995 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
Reds deal Bichette to Boston on last day for deals
RECAPS
Tampa Bay 2
Kansas City 1
Detroit 6
Baltimore 1
Texas 14
Cleveland 7
San Francisco 10
Pittsburgh 2
Milwaukee 8
Los Angeles 2
San Diego 11
Chicago Cubs 5
Cincinnati 4
Atlanta 3
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