PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

The loss was the 82nd for the Reds (68-82), guaranteeing their fourth straight losing season.

It is the longest streak of futility for the franchise since the Reds went from 1945-55 without a winning season.

"Whether it's two seasons or 10, it's frustrating," Jason LaRue said. "Losing ain't fun."

It once looked as though the Reds would break the losing spell this season. They were 47-41 at the All-Star break and were still over .500 (50-49) on July 25.

"The way we've played the second half, no one's satisfied," LaRue said.

With 12 games left, the Reds must go 5-7 to avoid losing 90 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1930-34, when they lost at least 90 for five straight years.

FOUR LONG SEASONS

Year Div. finish Record Manager 2001 5th 66-96 Bob Boone 2002 3rd 78-84 Bob Boone 2003 5th 69-93 Bob Boone, Dave Miley 2004 T-4th 68-82 Dave Miley

The Reds lost another player to injury. Wily Mo Pena pulled up running out a ground ball in the seventh and had to leave the game. He suffered a strained right hamstring and will return to Cincinnati today to be examined by Dr. Tim Kremchek.

The Reds did show some fight Tuesday. Down 5-1, they scored two off former Red Chris Reitsma in the eighth and another off John Smoltz in the ninth. The game ended with the tying run at second.

"We battled back," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "We came up a hit short."

The Braves got to Reds starter Brandon Claussen for single runs in the second, third and fourth. Each of the runs scored with two outs.

"He gets a lot of two-strike counts but doesn't put people away," Miley said.

Braves 5, Reds 4

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel rf-cf	4	1	1	0	1	0	.276
FLopez 3b	5	1	2	0	0	3	.254
Casey 1b	3	0	0	1	0	1	.329
Dunn lf	3	1	1	1	1	0	.263
DJimenez 2b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.262
WPena cf	3	0	0	0	0	1	.259
Padilla p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
MMatthews p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Van Poppel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
e-Valentin ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.218
LaRue c	4	0	2	1	0	2	.252
Machado ss	4	1	1	0	0	3	.321
Claussen p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.067
a-Bragg ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.182
JoAcevedo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.048
b-JaCruz ph-rf	2	0	1	1	0	0	.230
1-Kearns pr	0	0	0	0	0	0	.220
Totals	35	4	9	4	2	11

Atlanta	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Furcal ss	4	0	0	0	1	1	.286
MGiles 2b	4	1	2	1	1	0	.299
JDrew rf	4	0	0	0	1	1	.312
CJones 3b	4	0	1	0	1	0	.254
JuFranco 1b	5	1	3	1	0	0	.301
AJones cf	4	1	1	0	1	2	.266
Marrero lf	4	2	2	1	0	1	.323
EddPerez c	4	0	2	1	0	0	.242
Thomson p	3	0	1	0	0	2	.194
c-DWise ph	0	0	0	0	0	0	.222
d-DeRosa ph	0	0	0	1	0	0	.243
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Smoltz p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	36	5	12	5	5	7

Cincinnati	000	100	021	-4	9	1
Atlanta	011	100	20x	-5	12	0

a-flied out for Claussen in the 5th. b-flied out for Acevedo in the 7th. c-announced for Thomson in the 7th. d-hit a sacrifice fly for Wise in the 7th. e-flied out for Van Poppel in the 9th.

1-ran for Cruz in the 9th.

E-FLopez (11). LOB-Cincinnati 7, Atlanta 13. 2B-FLopez (17), LaRue (23), Machado (4), CJones (18), Marrero (18). RBIs-Casey (95), Dunn (94), LaRue (49), JaCruz (26), MGiles (40), JuFranco (53), Marrero (39), EddPerez (12), DeRosa (31). SB-MGiles (15). SF-Casey, DeRosa.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 4 (FLopez, WPena 2, Machado); Atlanta 7 (JDrew 2, JuFranco, AJones 3, Thomson).

Runners moved up-Dunn, DJimenez, JDrew.

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Claussen L, 2-6	4	7	3	3	4	5	93	5.91
JoAcevedo	2	2	0	0	0	1	27	6.20
Padilla	0	3	2	2	0	0	9	13.50
MMatthews	1	0	0	0	1	1	17	6.67
Van Poppel	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	6.29

Atlanta	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Thomson W, 13-8	7	5	1	1	1	9	94	3.82
Reitsma	1	1	2	2	1	0	19	3.89
Smoltz S, 40	1	3	1	1	0	2	16	2.34

Padilla pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.

Inherited runners-scored-MMatthews 2-1.

PB-LaRue.

Umpires-Home, Marvin Hudson; First, Derryl Cousins; Second, Kerwin Danley; Third, Dana DeMuth.

T-2:42. A-20,359 (50,091).

Return to Reds front page...