Reds starter Joey Hamilton wipes his head as he sits in the dugout after being pulled from the game in the third inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        ATLANTA — Ken Griffey Jr.'s return got most of the attention Friday night. But Joey Hamilton, the Reds' Opening Day starter, was also back, and the hope was that Hamilton would help stabilize the starting rotation, which has been a bit shaky lately.

        Let's just say he wasn't successful. Hamilton went only 2 2/3 innings and allowed a career-high nine runs (seven earned) in the Reds' 11-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves before 29,307 at Turner Field.

        “It's no fun to do that,” Hamilton said. “But stuff happens. You have to deal with it.”

        Griffey did make his return, going 1-for-4 with a single.

        “I felt like a deer in the headlights at first,” he said. “But I got more and more comfortable in the outfield as the game went on. That was the big thing.”

        The Reds remain two games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central. The Cards lost to Pittsburgh 5-2 to snap a five-game winning streak.

        Hamilton's return is nearly as important to the Reds as Griffey's. The team's mantra since spring has been: We'll be as good as our starting pitching. How good the starting pitching is depends on Hamilton. Since his problems Friday were mechanical, not physical, he wasn't overly discouraged.

        “I felt good,” he said. “That's the important thing. This is the long haul. I think I'll be fine.”

        The Reds hope so because the starting pitching is starting to struggle. Over the last six starts, including Friday's, Reds starters have gone 29 1/3 innings and allowed 24 runs. That's a 7.36 ERA. The Reds are 2-4 in those six games. The two they won, not coincidently, were the two Chris Reitsma and Elmer Dessens made quality starts in.

        Hamilton had not started since May 6, when he pulled his left hamstring attempting to cover first against Milwaukee. He was very good before the injury — 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA — and the Reds were 6-1 in his starts.

Ken Griffey Jr. follows through on a base hit off Atlanta Braves starter Kevin Millwood in the first inning Friday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Reds manager Bob Boone attributed the difference between Hamilton Friday and the Hamilton before the injury to the layoff.

        “For sure,” Boone said. “I'm disappointed in what happened but I'm not surprised.”

        Early Friday, Hamilton looked better than Atlanta's Kevin Millwood. Adam Dunn and Griffey lined back-to-back singles off Millwood in the first. But the Reds, hitting .227 with runners in scoring position for the year, left them stranded.

        Hamilton, meanwhile, retired the first batters he faced on ground balls. He ran into trouble in the second, allowing two runs on two hits.

        The Reds got one of the runs back in the third on Dunn's ninth home run of the year. The shot to left-center broke a 15-game streak without a homer for Dunn, his longest such drought of the year.

        The third started innocently enough. Braves leadoff man Rafael Furcal slapped an outside pitch down the left-field line for a double. The Braves sacrificed him over. Darren Bragg walked. Then the hit parade began, as the Braves put together a string of five straight hits.

        Hamilton left after striking out Millwood, who was trying to bunt. It was 7-2 by then. After Hamilton left the Reds got sloppy. Todd Walker's throwing error on Furcal's infield single and a Jason LaRue passed ball led to two unearned runs.

Vinny Castilla hits a three-run double off Joey Hamilton in the third inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The seven runs and seven hits in the inning were the most the Reds have allowed in any inning all year.

        “I started going side to side rather than over the top,” Hamilton said. “When I do that, my ball flattens out rather than having that good sink on it.”

        The short outing put an added strain on the Reds bullpen. Scott Sullivan, who had a cortisone shot Tuesday, didn't pitch for the fifth straight game Friday. Jose Rijo only went 3 1/3 innings Thursday.

        That meant Jim Brower took one for the team.

        Brower took over for Hamilton and ended up pitching 5 1/3 innings in relief. Brower allowed only one earned run, equaling the longest relief outing of his career.

        “That's what long relief is,” Brower said. “You go out and eat up innings.”

        Brower's outing took the sting out of Hamilton's early exit.

        “What Jimmy did was huge,” Boone said.

        “I did what I was asked,” Brower said. “The situation wasn't what we wanted, but we could rest the bullpen, so we can go out and win the next two.”

Braves 11, Reds 2 Reds box, runs Boone: Griffey, Reds chemistry will mix More playing time to Larkin's liking Louisville 9, Ottawa 7 M's Martinez transferred to 60-day DL NL roundup AL roundup Notes from Friday's games

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