By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ryan Dempster said it was frustration. Felipe Lopez didn't want to talk about it. Reds manager Bob Boone was unconcerned. But a Dempster-Lopez confrontation in the dugout after Lopez made a big mistake is the kind of thing that can have a lasting effect on a team - good or bad.

PHOTO GALLERY

Thursday's game

Dempster got in Lopez's face in the third inning of the Reds' 9-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park Thursday.

It went unnoticed by the crowd of 28,962, but television cameras caught it.

"It was frustration," Dempster said. "I was more frustrated with myself. It could have been anybody."

But Lopez was the guy who made the big blunder.

The score was 2-2 and the Braves had runners at first and third with two outs. Robert Fick hit a ball into the left-field corner. Fick had a sure double, and one run was going to score easily.

But Lopez inexplicably held Adam Dunn's relay throw, allowing Andruw Jones to score as well. If he had thrown, Jones would have been out easily, ending the inning.

Instead, Javy Lopez came up and hit a two-run homer to make the score 6-2. One mistake, three runs.

"The (third base coach) made the stop sign," Felipe Lopez said. "I didn't think he'd go. I didn't hear anyone yell: Four, four. The crowd was loud. But I should have anticipated the play."

Boone said he wasn't worried about what happened afterward.

"That's blowing off steam," Boone said. "That happens when guys live together for six months. I am concerned about him not making the play."

The play was huge, but that's not to say Dempster deserved to win; he allowed nine runs on a career-high 11 hits in six innings.

The puzzling thing is that his stuff was good enough to strike out 10 Braves and he was consistently hitting 93 mph on radar.

"His velocity and stuff were outstanding," Boone said. "But he made too many mistakes in the middle of the plate."

Dempster fell to 1-4 with a 7.62 ERA this season. He has a 12.74 ERA over his last four starts, allowing 40 baserunners in 17 2/3 innings.

Thus the frustration.

"I was getting ahead of hitters and making mistakes," he said. "I got the strikeout when I needed it and still gave up nine runs."

Dempster gave up a run in the first, but the Reds took the lead in the bottom half of the inning.

With two outs and Atlanta in a shift, Ken Griffey Jr. dropped a bunt toward third base. He could have walked to first.

Jose Guillen followed with a drive well into the second deck in left for his eighth home run of the year. It was the 16th straight game in which the Reds have homered.

The Braves tied the score with a run in the second, but the third was the killer inning for the Reds.

Dempster got the first two outs quickly, then Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones hit back-to-back singles. Fick doubled into the left corner, but Dunn's relay was perfect.

Felipe Lopez had his back toward home and held the ball a long second while Andruw Jones rounded third. Javy Lopez's home run compounded the error.

"It never should have come to that," Dempster said. "I had guys 0-2. We should have been out of the inning and hitting."

Atlanta	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Furcal ss	4	1	0	0	1	2	.325
MGiles 2b	5	2	3	0	0	1	.344
Sheffield rf	4	0	2	2	1	1	.356
CJones lf	5	1	1	0	0	2	.285
AJones cf	4	1	2	1	1	0	.290
Fick 1b	5	1	1	2	0	4	.291
JLopez c	4	3	3	3	0	0	.279
Castilla 3b	3	0	0	1	0	1	.285
Reynolds p	3	0	0	0	0	3	.000
King p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
MFranco ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.273
RHernandez p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Holmes p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	38	9	12	9	3	14

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	5	0	2	1	0	3	.241
Casey 1b	5	0	0	0	0	0	.300
Griffey Jr. cf	3	1	1	0	1	1	.256
JGuillen rf	4	2	2	3	0	0	.336
ABoone 3b	2	0	0	0	2	1	.267
Dunn lf	4	0	1	0	0	3	.237
LaRue c	4	1	1	0	0	1	.254
JCastro 2b	4	0	1	0	0	2	.253
Dempster p	1	0	0	0	1	1	.059
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Taylor ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.246
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Freel ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.143
Totals	34	4	8	4	4	12

Atlanta	114	003	000	-9	12	0
Cincinnati	201	000	100	-4	8	0

LOB-Atl. 6, Cin. 7. 2B-MGiles (17), Fick (8). 3B-JLopez (2). HR-JLopez 2 (10), off Dempster 2; JGuillen 2 (9), off Reynolds 2. RBIs-Sheffield 2 (40), AJones (42), Fick 2 (22), JLopez 3 (21), Castilla (25), FLopez (12), JGuillen 3 (26). SB-Sheffield (9). SF-Castilla. GIDP-Taylor. DP-Atl. 1.

Atlanta	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Reynolds W, 4-1	6 2/3	6	4	4	3	9	107	5.05
King	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	3	2.95
RHernandez	1	1	0	0	1	2	22	3.70
Holmes	1	1	0	0	0	1	16	4.63

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Dempster L, 1-4	6	11	9	9	2	10	95	7.62
Heredia	1	0	0	0	0	1	8	2.35
Reith	2	1	0	0	1	3	38	4.40

Umpires-Home, John Hirschbeck; First, Matt Hollowell; Second, Bill Welke; Third, Kerwin Danley.

T-2:40. A-28,962 (42,263).