Wes Helms (18), left, slides into home plate late as Reds catcher Corky Miller (37) makes the tag. (AP photo) | ZOOM | DESKTOP WALLPAPER: Click here to load image, then right-click to "Set As Background"

        ATLANTA — The fact that Adam Dunn is 22 years old and has less than a year in the big leagues sometimes gets lost because of the success Dunn has enjoyed and the confidence he exudes.

        But Dunn is a kid by baseball standards. Kids make mistakes, and Dunn made a huge one in the Reds' 7-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday at Turner Field.

        Here was the situation: Second inning, two outs, runners at first and second, Atlanta up 1-0. Rafael Furcal, the fastest player on the Braves' roster, hit a ball that Dunn, playing first base, went to his right to field. Pitcher Greg Maddux, not Atlanta's fastest player, was the runner at first.

        “With a ball to your right, you should go to second,” Dunn said. “But I chose the difficult route.”

        Dunn turned and threw to pitcher Chris Reitsma. The throw was right into the ground. Reitsma got a glove on the low toss, but couldn't hold on. A perfect throw might not have gotten Furcal.

        All 40,142 at Turner Field saw that Dunn would have easily had Maddux at second.

        Dunn's error was compounded by the fact that the next batter, Keith Lockhart, hit a three-run homer. Just like that, the Reds were down 5-0 to Maddux.

        “It's a shame,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “Adam hasn't played over there that much. The ball has a way of finding you.”

        Dunn, normally an outfielder, was at first because Sean Casey was given the day off to spread around playing time now that outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. is back.

        It was only Dunn's eighth start at first.

        “I feel fine over there,” he said. “There's a lot of stuff I need to know. Going to second on a play to your right is one of them. That was pretty bad.”

        The loss, the Reds' third in their last four games, cuts their lead in the National League Central to one game. The second-place St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 Sunday. It's the closest anyone has been to the Reds since the Pirates were a half-game back on April 29.

        But Boone, Mr. Optimistic, came away from the Braves series here pleased.

        “I saw a lot of great things for us,” he said. “It was a tough game (Sunday). That play ended up being the game.”

        The great things Boone was talking about: Reitsma's performance (the fourth consecutive start in which he's given up one earned run); Aaron Boone's day at the plate (3-for-3 with a RBI); home runs from Corky Miller and Austin Kearns; and another scoreless outing from right-handed reliever Carlos Almanzar.

        The Reds didn't roll over and mail it in against Maddux. Reitsma threw three scoreless innings after the second.

Ken Griffey Jr. tosses his batting helmet and heads to the outfield after making the final out of the fifth inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “I felt good. My stuff was as good as any time this year,” he said. “But I've got to try to pick it up after the error. I made one bad pitch to Lockhart. You can't make a mistake to anyone up here. I left a fastball over the plate.”

        Reitsma went five innings, allowing six hits and five runs (one earned).

        “I thought he was terrific,” Bob Boone said. “The baseball gods weren't very good to him today.”

        The Reds pulled close on Aaron Boone's RBI double and Miller's two-run homer in the top of the sixth, chasing Maddux. But Vinny Castilla and Wes Helms hit back-to-back homers off Reds reliever Luis Pineda in the bottom half, making it 7-3.

        The homers broke a 9 2/3-inning scoreless streak for Pineda. In fact, he had only given up one hit in that span. The two earned runs were as many as he's given up — total — over 17 appearances since April 10.

        Kearns hit his seventh homer, a two-runner off John Smoltz, to close it to 7-5 with two outs in the ninth.

        So, the Reds lost the series two games to one and the Cards are within a game. It would seem the season is on the brink again, but the Reds have responded each time they've come to a crossroads like this.

        Today, they'll rest — it's a scheduled off day — the crossroads will await Tuesday when they open a three-game series with the Marlins in Florida.

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