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Dunn blasts walk-off homer to lift Reds over Braves

Aug 24, 2007 - 4:30 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Adam Dunn was having a tough night until Bob Wickman took the mound.

Dunn hit a walk-off, two-run home run to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 9-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves in 12 innings on Thursday.

Josh Hamilton and Edwin Encarnacion also homered for the Reds, who took three of four from the Braves and have won 12 of 20 in August to pull out of last place in the National League Central Division.

It was Dunn's sixth career walk-off home run and second against Wickman (3-3), the Braves' closer. Cincinnati's slugger hit a ninth-inning grand slam off Wickman in an interleague contest last season, when the burly reliever was with Cleveland.

"It was a fastball. I was trying to run it in on him, figuring that he was looking away," Wickman said. "It was the same thing I did to (Ken Griffey Jr.). I tried to sneak on by him."

Dunn left the clubhouse before the media was allowed to enter.

Cincinnati interim manager Pete Mackanin at first was more concerned that Brandon Phillips, who reached first on an error by Wickman, had a good jump wasted on an attempted steal.

"When Adam swung the bat, the first thing I thought was, 'Please don't foul it off,'" Mackanin said. "When I saw the ball in the air, I didn't care anymore."

Mike Gosling (2-0) pitched a scoreless 12th for the win. Both of his victories this season have come in extra innings against the Braves. He picked up his first win in a 15-inning contest in Atlanta on July 18.

"It felt great. You can rerun my quotes from the last time," Gosling said. "You really want to come out on top in these games to make all the time and effort worth it."

"Eddie G (Guardado), (Kirk) Saarloos, and you can't forget Gosling, came up big," Mackanin said.

Gosling warmed up in the bottom of the 11th and watched Braves reliever Tyler Yates pitch out of situation that saw runners on second and third with none out.

"I saw it, but I just reminded myself to stay focused and stay ready," Gosling said.

"The 11th tore everybody's heart out, but Gosling was big," Mackanin said.

Dunn's blast obscured another stellar game from what is becoming one of the most prolific duos in the NL, Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira, who combined to drive in all seven of Atlanta's runs.

Jones got the Braves off to a good start in the first, doubling home Willie Harris from second base for a 1-0 lead.

The Reds wasted little time getting to Atlanta starter Buddy Carlyle, who set down the side in order in the first but ran into trouble in the second. Phillips led off the frame with a single and scored on Scott Hatteberg's one-out double.

After Javier Valentin walked, Encarnacion brought Hatteberg home with a ground-rule double to deep center field, giving Cincinnati a 2-1 lead. The rookie Hamilton extended the lead with a three-run blast one batter later, his 17th homer of the season.

"It was frustrating. I thought I had Hamilton struck out," said Carlyle, who started his professional career in the Reds organization. "I need to pitch deeper in games."

"No one did anything after we tied it," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who was ejected in the second inning for arguing Carlyle's 1-2 pitch to Hamilton was a strike. "We had him struck out. That was three runs right there."

Atlanta began its march back in the fourth, when Teixeira clubbed a solo shot, his 10th homer in just 21 games since coming over from the Texas Rangers at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Not to be outdone, Jones tied the game in the fifth with a three-run blast after back-to-back walks to Harris and Kelly Johnson. Jones, who finished the contest with three hits, now leads the NL with a .337 batting average.

The homer chased Reds starter Elizardo Ramirez after just 4 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old righthander surrendered five runs and five hits while walking four and striking out one.

Future Hall of Famer Griffey put the Reds back on top, 6-5, with an RBI double in the home half of the fifth.

Carlyle was lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth after allowing six runs and six hits in five frames. It was the third straight poor outing for the 29-year-old righthander, who lost two in a row while allowing 12 runs in 9 1/3 combined innings coming into Thursday's start.

Jones and Teixeira went back to work in the seventh to make sure their starter would not get saddled with a third straight loss. Atlanta's sluggers each contributed run-scoring hits off a pair of Cincinnati relievers to jump back on top, 7-6.

The lead would not stand, however, as Encarnacion provided his second RBI of the night by way of a solo homer off righthanded reliever Peter Moylan.

"Their bullpen pitched great," Cox said. "So did ours, but it was asking a lot of them. The last thing we needed was an extra-inning game."