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Jun 17, 2009 - 6:29 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Atlanta (30-33) at Cincinnati (32-31), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Javier Vazquez's control and strikeout totals have been impressive this season. The Atlanta Braves' recent play, however, has been anything but spectacular.

Vazquez looks to win his fourth straight start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night when the struggling Braves continue their three-game set at Great American Ball Park.

Atlanta (30-33) had 12 hits Tuesday but fell 7-2 in the series opener after leaving five runners in scoring position. The Braves are batting .239 while losing five of six.

"When you get 12 hits, you need to win the ballgame," manager Bobby Cox said. "That's a lot of hits."

Chipper Jones went 3 for 4 to break out of an 0-for-21 slide that was the second-longest of his career. He is 3 for 6 with a homer lifetime against Wednesday's scheduled starter, Micah Owings.

Garret Anderson had an RBI single in the sixth inning and Jeff Francoeur drove in a run in the eighth as the Braves scored two runs or fewer for the seventh time in 12 games.

Atlanta has scored five runs in Vazquez's last four starts - all Braves losses. The veteran right-hander tied a season high with 12 strikeouts and walked none for the second straight start, but Atlanta lost 3-1 to Pittsburgh on Thursday.

"I don't see how we're losing these games when he's starting them but we are," Cox said of Vazquez, who has a 1.77 ERA in his last three starts. "You can't pitch any better than that. You just can't. He did everything right."

Vazquez (4-5, 3.31 ERA), who has walked two or fewer in 11 of 13 starts this season, leads the NL with 105 strikeouts.

He has won his last three outings against the Reds, including 4-3 at Great American Ball Park on April 24 when he struck out nine and yielded one earned run over six innings.

That win is one of only two for the Braves in their last 10 games in Cincinnati.

Brandon Phillips and Laynce Nix had three hits apiece as the Reds (32-31) snapped a four-game slide Tuesday following rain delays of 1 hour and 54 minutes and 21 minutes.

"The field was wet, and there were puddles on the warning track," Nix said after driving in three runs. "But you have to block it out. The biggest battle is cooling down and warming up so many times."

In the longest skid by a Reds position player since Denis Menke went 0 for 33 in 1973, Willy Taveras broke out of a career-worst 0-for-32 slide with a first-inning single. He is 4 for 12 lifetime against Vazquez.

The Reds give the ball to Owings (3-7, 4.64) as they go for their seventh win in nine home games. Owings allowed one run and four hits over 5 1-3 innings in Thursday's 3-2 loss at Washington, walking four and hitting two batters while not receiving a decision.

"Walks will haunt you," manager Dusty Baker told the Reds' official Web site. "If they don't haunt you right then, it rolls the lineup back around quicker than it's supposed to."

The Reds have lost five of Owings' last six outings, but he is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in three career starts versus Atlanta. In an 8-2 win over the Braves on April 26, Owings struck out six and surrendered one run in seven innings.

Owings, batting .257 with a homer and four RBIs, had a season-high two hits - including a double - in that game.