By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

He wiped the shaving cream from his neck and face, but missed what coated the inside of his right ear. For his part in a 3-2 win against the Braves on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, Barry Larkin got a celebratory pie-in-the-face during a post-game interview.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

"That was nice," the Reds shortstop said in the clubhouse afterward. Nearing 40 years old, and the anticipated end to a productive career, Larkin welcomed Tuesday with a smile.

Starting pitcher Jose Acevedo held the Braves to two runs and three hits over seven innings.

His effort allowed Larkin, and the Reds, to come from behind to win before 20,232 fans.

Hitting a maddening .167 with one RBI entering the game, Larkin gave the Reds their one-run lead with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning.

The inning before, he scored the Reds' first run. "As far as what I'm trying to do or what I'm thinking about up there, .160 makes you think a lot," said Larkin, who raised his season average to .200 with the 2-for-4 performance. "It's a struggle. But I'll take today. I'll definitely take it."

As did Acevedo.

The right-hander turned in his third quality start (six innings, three earned runs or less) in as many outings this season.

He struck out six and walked two. Todd Jones and Danny Graves each pitched one scoreless inning of relief.

"Every time I pitch I want to get better and be consistent," said Acevedo, who improved to 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA. "I'm just going to keep working hard, keep the ball down."

The Reds are 7-1 when a pitcher turns in a quality start.

"You can't ask for much better than that against a club like Atlanta," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "You can't beat three quality starts and that's what (Acevedo has) given us."

Acevedo's lone mistake allowed the Braves to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning.

Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal hit a one-out single to center field. He stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by Reds catcher Javier Valentin.

The error did not cost the Reds a run, but a Marcus Giles home run to left field did.

The Braves second baseman hit a belt-high fastball with a 1-2 count.

"He left (the pitch) a little bit up and Marcus was able to get a hold of it," Miley said. "But if you take the one pitch away, you can't ask for any more than he gave us."

Cincinnati trimmed the Braves' lead to one run in the fourth.

Atlanta starting pitcher John Thomson did not allow a hit, and walked just one, through the first three innings.

Larkin got the first hit off Thomson, leading off the fourth with a single.

Three batters later, first baseman Sean Casey doubled into the right-field corner to score Larkin from third.

"I've hit the ball on the nose," Larkin said. "I don't want to say bad luck, but it hasn't been good.

"I've been wearing out the second baseman. I try not to do that, but it just seems to be where the ball is going. I just try to hit the ball hard and wherever it goes it goes."

Larkin hit the ball hard, again to center field, in the fifth inning.

After a sacrifice bunt by Acevedo moved Valentin and Ryan Freel to second and third base, Larkin's single drove both home to put the Reds ahead 3-2.

Atlanta	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Furcal ss	4	1	1	0	0	1	.158
MGiles 2b	4	1	1	2	0	0	.385
JDrew rf	2	0	0	0	2	0	.172
AJones cf	4	0	1	0	0	2	.245
Laroche 1b	4	0	0	0	0	2	.176
Marrero lf	3	0	0	0	0	1	.111
JEstrada c	3	0	1	0	0	0	.262
DeRosa 3b	3	0	0	0	0	2	.196
Thomson p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-JuFranco ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.240
Nitkowski p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	30	2	4	2	2	8

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.240
Larkin ss	4	1	2	2	0	0	.200
Griffey Jr. cf	2	0	0	0	2	0	.239
Kearns rf	3	0	0	0	1	0	.158
Casey 1b	4	0	3	1	0	0	.396
Dunn lf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.366
Valentin c	4	1	1	0	0	0	.111
Freel 3b	3	1	1	0	0	0	.300
TJones p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JoAcevedo p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.167
a-JCastro ph-3b	1	0	0	0	0	0	.222
Totals	29	3	7	3	4	3

Atlanta	002	000	000	-2	4	0
Cincinnati	000	120	00x	-3	7	2

a-flied out for Acevedo in the 7th. b-grounded out for Thomson in the 8th.

E-Valentin (1), Freel (3). LOB-Atlanta 3, Cincinnati 7. 2B-Casey 2 (6). HR-MGiles (2), off JoAcevedo. RBIs-MGiles 2 (10), Larkin 2 (3), Casey (10). SB-Furcal (3). S-JoAcevedo. GIDP-AJones, Kearns.

Runners left in scoring position-Atlanta 1 (DeRosa); Cincinnati 3 (Dunn, Valentin, Freel).

DP-Atlanta 1 (MGiles, Furcal and Laroche); Cincinnati 1 (Larkin, DJimenez and Casey).

Atlanta	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Thomson L, 1-1	7	6	3	3	3	2	103	2.70
Nitkowski	1	1	0	0	1	1	21	5.06

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JoAcevedo W, 2-0	7	3	2	2	2	6	102	3.26
TJones H, 3	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	2.25
Graves S, 7	1	1	0	0	0	1	18	3.86

IBB-off Thomson (Dunn) 1.

Umpires-Home, Tim McClelland; First, Jim Wolf; Second, Tony Randazzo; Third, Kevin Kelley.

T-2:27. A-20,232 (42,271).