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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CINCINNATI (AP) -- After a nasty storm delayed the first pitch,
and the Atlanta Braves quickly pulled ahead, Pete Harnisch just
wanted to make it to the fifth inning.
It was worth the effort to get there.
|  | | Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 33rd homer in the third inning off Tom Glavine. Dante Bichette is at left. Griffey finished 3-for-4. |
Harnisch's second career homer finished a five-run rally that
chased Tom Glavine in the fifth inning and powered the Cincinnati
Reds to a milestone 10-6 victory Wednesday night.
The Reds took two-of-three for their first winning series
against the Braves since September 1996. They'd lost their last
eight series against Atlanta and are only 7-25 against the Braves
since 1997.
"It feels good to light one up against the Braves," Reds
manager Jack McKeon said, taking his first puffs on a postgame
cigar.
Cincinnati pulled off a mistake-aided comeback after a severe
storm dumped rain and hail on the field, delaying the start by 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Lightning bolts flashed throughout the game, drawing repeated
oohs from the 31,098 fans and quick glances from the players, while
rolling thunder rattled the suite windows.
Harnisch (4-6) seemed to be on his way to a quick exit when the
Braves rolled ahead 6-2 in the third.
"At that point, I'm just trying to get through five or six
innings, give the bullpen a break, throw a couple of zeroes and
give the guys a chance to get back in the game," Harnisch said.
He reached the fifth all right -- and wound up pumping his right
fist as he rounded first on his two-run homer off Stan Belinda,
which completed the rally and left him unsure how to react.
"The home run trot was well below average," Harnisch said.
"It looked like I had seven different speeds. I feel like I have
the ability to put the ball in play, but I swung the bat and it hit
the good part. That's it."
The crowd relished Glavine's meltdown, waving goodbye and
jeering as he walked off the field with his head down after giving
up eight runs. It was the most he'd allowed since Milwaukee scored
nine off him May 24 last year.
"I don't think I had my A-game, but I don't think I should have
given up eight runs, either," said Glavine (14-6), who had allowed
only 17 runs while winning his last seven starts. "It was just one
of those games. Not very much about it was very good."
Glavine lasted only four-plus innings against the team he has
beaten more than any other in his career. The left-hander is 21-9
against the Reds, including 14-4 in Cincinnati.
Ken Griffey Jr. had three hits, including a solo homer, and Alex
Ochoa had a single, double and triple as the Reds rallied for only
their second win in eight games.
Misplays abounded on both sides, fueling one spurt after another
through the first five innings. Two by Braves center fielder Andruw
Jones helped the Reds pull off their go-ahead rally.
Griffey led off the fifth with a single and paused at second on
Dante Bichette's single to center, then took off for third when
Jones made a halfhearted lob to the infield. Dmitri Young's double
tied it and ended Glavine's outing.
Ochoa hit a sinking liner to center that shot past Jones for a
two-run triple off Belinda. Two outs later, Harnisch hit a 2-2
pitch over the wall in left for a 376-foot homer.
Harnisch held on for his third complete game in his last six
starts, giving up nine hits as he beat the Braves for the first
time since 1993. The right-hander had gone 0-4 in his last seven
starts against Atlanta.
Chipper Jones ended an 0-for-23 slump, the worst of his career,
with a triple that bounced past a charging Ochoa in left field in
the seventh. Jones had two throwing errors and only one hit in 13
at-bats during the series, which ended a 4-5 road trip by the
Braves.
The third baseman's errant throw with two outs in the ninth
inning of the series opener let Cincinnati rally for a 3-2 victory.
"Not real good," he said of the trip. "Things would have been
a lot different if we had made a defensive play here or there and
if one guy in particular wouldn't have gone 0-for-20-whatever."
The Braves appeared to be in control when they scored five runs
in the third with the help of Bichette's misplay in right. He tried
to make a sliding catch of Bobby Bonilla's liner on the wet turf
and missed the ball, letting it roll to the wall for a two-run
triple. Bonilla scored on Harnisch's wild pitch for a 6-2 lead.
Game notes
Final test results found no trace of cancer in Andres
Galarraga's left thumb, which has a hairline fracture and a cyst.
He could be back in the Braves' lineup Friday. ... Pitching coach
Leo Mazzone was released from a hospital, where tests found nothing
wrong. He fainted during Tuesday's game. ... RF Brian Jordan was
out of the lineup, a day after pulling groin muscles. ... Reds SS
Barry Larkin plans to be back in the lineup Friday in Chicago, one
week after he strained a knee ligament. ... Harnisch's other homer
was off San Diego's Heath Murray on May 22 last year. ... Griffey's
homer, his 33rd this season, was the 431st of his career. He's 26th
on the career list, with Andre Dawson next at 438.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Biopsy on cyst in Galarraga's thumb finds no trace of cancer
RECAPS
Cleveland 6
Texas 4
Baltimore 5
Detroit 2
NY Yankees 12
Oakland 1
Tampa Bay 5
Minnesota 4
Chi. White Sox 19
Seattle 3
Kansas City 5
Toronto 3
Boston 4
Anaheim 2
Florida 5
St. Louis 3
Colorado 4
Pittsburgh 3
San Francisco 9
Milwaukee 3
Cincinnati 10
Atlanta 6
Philadelphia 3
San Diego 2
NY Mets 12
Houston 5
Montreal 4
Arizona 3
Chicago Cubs 5
Los Angeles 4
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