The Tomahawk Times - Braves even series with Reds, roll 9-1

ATLANTA -- Tim Hudson gave the Atlanta Braves a dominant pitching performance to cruise to a 2-0 victory on Friday. It was the offense that drove the Braves to victory over the Cincinnati Reds Saturday, highlighted by a six-run seventh inning en route to a 9-1 win.

While Chipper Jones continued his assault on the National League batting title, the Braves used a balanced attack to batter around Reds relievers Mike Lincoln,  Jeremy Affeldt, Jared Burton and Francisco Cordero for seven runs in their final two times at bat.

Jo-Jo Reyes (1-0) made his season debut with five and a third solid innings and picked up his first Major League win since September 28, 2007 in Houston. The Reds got just four hits against Reyes, who walked three and fanned five.

The hitting stars were many for Atlanta. Yunel Escobar turned in a 3-for-4 night with a pair runs scored and an RBI. Jones was 2-for-4 and upped his Major League best batting average to .421 on the year.

Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur each collected two hits as well, with McCann driving home two runs with a double that deflected off the glove of a diving Ryan Freel in left.

Lost in the offensive onslaught was some excellent relief work by Atlanta's bullpen. Jeff Bennett and Will Ohman both helped get Reyes and the Braves out of a 1-out bases-loaded jam in the sixth, leading 2-1. Ohman retired Adam Dunn on strikes to escape the Cincinnati threat.

Jorge Campillo, Blaine Boyer and Chris Resop all followed with perfect inning to further frustrate a struggling Reds club. Cincinnati has now lost four straight and now sit in last place in the N.L. Central race (12-19).

Former Braves farmhand Matt Belisle (1-2) allowed just two runs in his five and a third innings of work. Belisle surrendered eight hits but did not walk a batter while striking out two.

The Braves (14-15) have a chance to get back to .500 with a three-game sweep of Cincinnati on Sunday. With the Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins and New York Mets all losing on Saturday, the Braves picked up a full game on the rest of the division by beating the Reds.

On Deck: Atlanta sends Tom Glavine to the mound Sunday in search of his first win of the season. He will be opposed by Bronson Arroyo of the Reds. Game time is set for 1:30 PM EST.