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After solid road trip, Reds return home to face Braves

Apr 23, 2009 - 11:50 PM By Matt Becker Stats Senior Writer

Atlanta (7-8) at Cincinnati (9-6) 7:10 p.m. EDT

CINCINNATI (AP) -- It looked like the Cincinnati Reds might be in store for their ninth straight losing season given how they opened the year.

It doesn't look like they're going to be a pushover any more, though.

The Reds look to carry some momentum from an impressive road trip and win their third straight game Friday night when they open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park.

After opening the season 2-3 at home, Cincinnati (9-6) won seven times on its 10-game trip, marking the first time since 2004 that it won three series on the same trip.

The Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 7-1 on Thursday, moving three games over .500 this late in the season for the first time since being 67-64 on Aug. 27, 2006. They've not finished a season with a winning record since going 85-77 in 2000.

"We're making it known that we're going to come out and battle everybody," said Aaron Harang, who got the win on Thursday.

Joey Votto homered, doubled twice and singled Thursday to lead Cincinnati's offense.

Votto is 7-for-16 with a homer and five RBIs in his last five games, but had little success against the Braves (7-8) last season, going 3-for-17 with no extra-base hits, one RBI and six walks in six games.

The Reds and Braves split six meetings last year with each team sweeping a series at home. Cincinnati has won six straight home games over Atlanta since a 14-4 loss on Aug. 20, 2007.

The Braves are coming off a 1-0 win over Washington on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep. Atlanta had only six hits but took advantage of three eighth-inning walks - including one with the bases loaded - to win for the second time in nine games after starting the season 5-1.

"We needed a win, somehow, like that, because we'd lost too many tough ones almost identical," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said.

Javier Vazquez (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will get the start for the Braves.

Vazquez gave up five hits and struck out eight in six shutout innings in an 11-1 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday. The right-hander has 20 strikeouts in 12 innings over his last two starts.

"I've been impressed with him every single game," Cox said. "He gets a lot of strikeouts, he's around the plate, he throws a lot of strikes."

Vazquez is 2-0 with a 3.11 ERA in his last five starts against the Reds, but hasn't faced them since 2005, while pitching for Arizona.

The Reds counter with Edinson Volquez (2-1, 6.46).

After being tagged for 11 runs in 9 1-3 innings over his first two starts, Volquez gave up one run and four hits with seven strikeouts in six innings of a 4-2 win over Houston on Sunday.

"I think I'm close right now to where I was last year," he told the Reds' official Web site. "I will get into a better rhythm with my mechanics and my pitches and my speed, too."

The right-hander still needs to cut down on his walks, though. He issued five against the Astros and has 13 in 15 1-3 innings this season.

Volquez was solid against the Braves in 2008, going 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA. He struck out 16 and walked five in 12 innings over those two starts.