Reds tomahawk Braves

The Reds brought their hitting shoes down to Atlanta, blasting Braves pitching to win the 3 game series, 2 games to 1.  The Braves came into the series on a hot steak, having won 8 of their last 10 games.

The Braves took the first game behind the pitching of Phil Niekro, who is having an amazing season to date.
Niekro won his MLB leading 18th game of the year, striking out 6 and pitching another complete game.

In the second game, the Reds fought off a Braves' 9th-inning rally to get a 7-6 win.  George Foster had 3 hits, Pete Rose 2 more, and Fred Norman went 8 innings for his 7th win of the season. Bob Horner hit 2 long-balls for Atlanta.

In the rubber match, Dan Driessen was the hitting star hitting 2 homers and driving in 5 runs.  He had 5 hits in all, and Ken Griffey contributed 4 more hits.   George Foster knocked in 3 runs with his 27th bomb of the season.  Pedro Borbon got the win in relief.  Jeff Burroughs and Bob Horner each homered for the Braves in a losing effort.  Horner already has 18 homers since his mid-June callup.