Fairfield-Echo.com

ATLANTA — Had he not suffered biceps tendinitis and landed on the disabled list, that would have been John Smoltz on the mound for the Atlanta Braves in Turner Field.

The only time the Cincinnati Reds saw Smoltz, though, was after the third inning when they stopped Saturday's game to honor Smoltz for his 3,000th strikeout.

Instead the Braves were forced to call up lefthander Jo-Jo Reyes from the minors to face the Reds and it was as if they merely plugged in Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine or Steve Avery from their distinguished pasts.

A newly revised batting order by Dusty Baker, featuring Ken Griffey Jr. hitting second, Joey Votto hitting fourth and Adam Dunn hitting fifth, didn't even annoy Reyes and the Braves pounded out a 9-1 victory, featuring a six-run seventh inning Reds bullpen meltdown.

"That's a good game gone bad in a hurry," Baker said of the seventh inning. "Real bad."

Of course, these days former ice skater Jo Jo Starbuck or former basketball star Jo Jo White — both minus the hyphens — could silence the Reds, who suffered 21 consecutive scoreless innings before Ryan Freel stole them a run in the sixth.

He singled, stole second, stole third and scored on Brandon Phillips' single — the sum total of Cincinnati's offense. They finished with four hits.

Asked by an outsider if he thought the new batting order worked, the frustrated Baker smiled wanly and said, "You juggle and you get the same results."

During the current four-game losing streak, the Res have scored five runs on 18 hits, and eight hits came in one game.

The Braves struck early against Matt Belisle, back-to-back doubles for a run with one out in the first inning by Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones.

A double in the fifth by Kelly Johnson and Escobar's third hit, a single, gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Belisle straightened out from there and pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs, eight hits, walked none and struck out two.

"Matt threw a good game, a real good game, best one he's thrown all year," said Baker. And all it did was attach another 'L' to Belisle's name.

Then came the Reds bullpen Ringling Brothers circus act in the seventh — Mike Lincoln, Jeremy Affeldt and Jared Burton giving up six runs.

It started against Lincoln with pinch-hitter Brayan Pena singling off shortstop Jeff Keppinger's glove. Affeldt later walked in a run after he had Teixeira 0-and-2, then Brian McCann doubled for two runs off left fielder Freel's glove after he made a long run. Three more scored with Burton on the mound and the Reds were losers for the fourth straight time.

"The ball off Keppinger's glove, that was the start," said Baker. "And the ball didn't bounce off Freel's glove until he left his feet to try to make the catch.

"You know you are in trouble when you have to face Chipper Jones in a big situation, the hottest hitter in baseball," Baker added.

"We turned him around (brought in lefthander Affeldt) to put the switch-hitting Jones on his weaker righthanded side) and he still gets a hit and it turns into a feeding frenzy," said Baker.

The bullpen gave up a season's high seven runs and it made certain the club would limp home after another losing road trip, the 18th of their last 19. They are 3-5 on this trip and finish it this afternoon against the Braves and Glavine, 27-12 for his career against the Reds.

"You want to keep games close, especially when you're not scoring runs," Baker said. "You try to keep them close so you can come back."

Coming back, though, is a foreign concept these days.

"We had some runners on base, again, but that two-out hit hasn't been around for us all year," said Baker.

Once the Braves piled it on, though, the Reds were amoeba-like — the last 11 batters went down in a row.

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