The Tomahawk Times - Hudson hurt, Reds sweep Braves with 6-2 win

CINCINNATI -- The Atlanta Braves closed out another dismal roadtrip with a 6-2 loss and a three-game sweep at the hands of hot hitting Jay Bruce and the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday at Great American Ballpark.

Bruce banged out two more hits in three trips to the plate, including his second homer in as many days. The 21-year old is hitting .591 over his first six games in the Majors.

Cincinnati took the lead early, when Adam Dunn launched his 15th homer of the season in the first. The Bruce homer and a Brandon Phillips double in the second had the Reds leading 3-0 after two.

Tim Hudson (7-4) was charged with four runs in six innings of work, but was forced to leave the game in the seventh with a strained left hamstring. The injury is believed to be slight and Hudson does not expect to miss his next start.

Hudson was not the only Braves hurler to go down in that seventh. Blaine Boyer was forced out of the game after injuring his right knee while delivering a pitch to Phillips. The extent of the injury is not known, as Boyer will travel back to Atlanta with the club and undergo an MRI on Monday.

After Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann hit back-to-back homer off Reds starter Johnny Cueto, the wheels really came off for Atlanta when Cincinnati answered with three runs in that disastrous seventh.

Other than the two solo homers, Cueto (4-5) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before having it broken up by a Gregor Blanco bunt single. The young righty went seven innings and allowed just the two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out three.

Blanco's choice to bunt for a single was the cause of some scrutiny. Batting in the bottom of the seventh, Reds shortstop Jerry Hairston Jr. voiced his displeasure with the play to McCann.

The Braves catcher quickly stood up and exchanged words with Hairston, but things never got out of hand. Ironically, Hairston promptly laid down a bunt of his own that lead to the first of three Cincinnati runs that frame.

Ken Griffey Jr., who belted homer number 599 of his career on Saturday, was held homerless on the afternoon. He went 2-for-3 with a double and was walked intentionally during the three-run seventh inning for Cincinnati.

On Deck: The Braves head back home to Turner Field to begin a seven game homestand with four against the Florida Marlins. Jo-Jo Reyes will look to stop the slide as he matches up with Scott Olsen. Game time is set for 7:10 PM EST.

Niteowl049AAA-er

544 days ago

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When a pitcher is pitching a no-hitter the opposing team has every right to bunt to end the no-hitter and that goes the same way if it had been a Braves pitcher with the no-hitter going. Hairston had no reason to even mention this to McCann. He should have kept it to himself or just mention it to someone on the Reds bench.

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KelsdadAll-Star

544 days ago

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No, he doesn't. This falls into baseball's "unwritten" rules, which states the first hit of the game should always be legitimate. I would bet my house that Teixeira or Chipper or Glavine or another tenured vet pulled Blanco aside in the clubhouse and told him to never do it again. And they didn't say please.

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Grant McAuleyJV Squad

544 days ago

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In what was then a 3-run game in the sixth, I'm ok with a bunt from a fast man who's trying to start something - anything at that point. Later in the game, say down 6-0, I would look at it differently. If it was Francoeur bunting for a hit, this would be an entirely different story.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

544 days ago

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The way I look at it nothing else was working so why not try a bunt but I can see where those that think differently are coming from and respect their views.

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KelsdadAll-Star

544 days ago

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When I was a sophmore in high school, we were getting no hit in the eighth inning. I led off the inning and dragged a bunt which the pitcher fielded. Instead of throwing to first, he raced me to the bag and intentionally spiked my foot as he tagged. Three months later, in an American Leagion summer game, I faced him again, top of the first inning, his first pitch hit me right behind the arm, where the armpit meets the shoulder blade. This was HIGH SCHOOL!! I never tried it again.

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Grant McAuleyJV Squad

544 days ago

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That is brutal, and I can understand the logic behind the pitcher's irritation. Interesting to note, Dusty Baker pulled Hairston's card a little later and told him to just get back in the box and hit - not wake up the opposing team in a game they [the Reds] are winning.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

509 days ago

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In response to Kelsdad's comment that Chipper, etc probably told him not to do it again: Either they didn't or Blanco didn't listen, cause he just tried it again in the 7th inning of a perfect game (so far) by Kuroda. This time it didn't work though.

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