Dante Bichette is greeted by Alex Ochoa after his game-winning single. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

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        Swerving to avoid a shutout at the last possible instant Monday, the Reds collided head-on with success.

        Maybe this was a freak accident, given some of the events that led to their 3-2, 10-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves. But the Reds welcomed the end of their five-game losing streak, regardless of the circumstances.

        One strike away from suffering their first shutout de feat of the season, Cincinnati scored a pair of ninth-inning unearned runs off Atlanta reliever John Rocker to force extra innings. A throwing error by third baseman Chipper Jones aided the Reds' uprising.

        Then a disputed umpire's call helped set the tone for the Reds' 10th before Dante Bichette's RBI single off Kerry Ligtenberg scored Chris Sexton, the St. Xavier High and Miami University graduate whose pinch-hit single opened the inning.

        The Reds (55-56), who remained six games behind first-place St. Louis in the Central Division, had lost six games in a row at Cinergy Field before their late heroics.

Jason LaRue tags B.J. Surhoff in the second inning. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        “Maybe it'll start us on something good,” said Jack McKeon, who managed his 500th game as a Red.

        “Our season, I've said before, simply rides on whether we're going to get hot,” Bichette said. “This was a good game to get us off a losing streak. We have to put a stretch of (victories) together and we believe we can do it. It's not too late.”

        The Reds took that sentiment to heart after Atlanta's Greg Maddux, who appeared destined for a complete-game shutout, disappeared after yielding pinch hitter Michael Tucker's one-out double in the eighth inning. The Braves still led 2-0 when the inning ended.

        The Reds rallied in the ninth after Bichette doubled with one out off Rocker.

        Chris Stynes hit a two-out grounder to Jones, whose throw to first base struck the edge of the dirt and skipped past Wally Joyner as Bichette went to third.

Rafael Furcal slides into second before the throw to Juan Castro. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Up came Reese, who fell behind 0-2 before fouling off a couple of pitches. In the middle of this, McKeon scampered out to visit first-base umpire Angel Hernandez and complained that Rocker was repeatedly committing a balk.

        Whether this was gamesmanship on McKeon's part to break Rocker's concentration may never be known. But the next scene was telling: Rocker threw a wild pitch, scoring Bichette and moving Stynes to second. Reese scored Stynes by doubling to left-center field.

        Cincinnati began its winning rally on Sexton's leadoff single off Ligtenberg (2-2). Sexton appeared to be out on the previous pitch when right fielder Brian Jordan, who robbed Ken Griffey Jr. of a two-run homer in the sixth inning with a spectacular above-the-wall grab, caught his foul fly. But Hernandez ruled that the ball had caromed off the padding against the grandstand.

        Juan Castro sacrificed Sexton to second base and Griffey drew an intentional walk before Bichette drilled his game-winning hit.

        “It's good to get the early butterflies out of the way, since I haven't been here all year,” said Sexton, who was promoted last Friday from Triple-A Louisville.

        Another contributor for the Reds was Steve Parris, who allowed both Atlanta runs while lasting eight innings.

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