Jack Billingham posted his fourth straight victory and ended the Reds' four-game losing streak by defeating the Braves, 4-1. Singles by Pete Rose and Johnny Bench around a walk to Joe Morgan started the Reds' scoring in the first inning. Walks to Morgan and Bench and singles by Tony Perez and Cesar Geronimo added two runs in the third.

Rose singled in the seventh, Morgan walked and the pair then worked a double steal, setting up the Reds' final run on a balk by Dick Ruthven. The stolen base was Morgan's 40th, giving him at least that many for eight straight seasons. [The Sporting News]



Cincinnati Reds 4, Atlanta Braves 1
Game Played on Wednesday, August    18, 1976 (Night game) at Riverfront Stadium
Braves       0  0  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  5  0
Reds         1  0  2    0  0  0    1  0  x  -   4  9  0


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Royster 3b            3   0   0   0     0   1   .250      Rose 3b               4   2   2   0     0   0   .318
Office cf             3   0   0   0     0   0   .282      Driessen lf           3   0   0   0     1   1   .265
May lf                3   0   1   1     1   0   .213        Griffey rf          0   0   0   0     0   0   .330
Montanez 1b           4   0   0   0     0   0   .303      Morgan 2b             1   1   0   0     3   0   .322
Henderson rf          3   0   1   0     1   0   .261      Bench c               2   1   2   1     2   0   .257
Chaney ss             4   0   0   0     0   1   .276      Perez 1b              4   0   1   1     0   0   .262
Gilbreath 2b          3   0   1   0     0   0   .264      Geronimo cf           4   0   1   1     0   1   .304
Correll c             3   0   0   0     0   2   .218      Lum rf,lf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .231
Ruthven p             2   1   1   0     0   0   .183      Concepcion ss         4   0   2   0     0   0   .289
  Paciorek ph         1   0   1   0     0   0   .303      Billingham p          3   0   0   0     0   2   .220
  Beard p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               29   1   5   1     2   4             Totals               29   4   9   3     6   5

Time of Game: 2:03   Attendance: 29,065
Left on Base: Braves 5, Reds 8
DP: Braves 2, Reds 1
Stolen Bases: Morgan 2 (40), Rose (6)
Caught Stealing: Bench (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Royster (11), Office (4), Billingham (6)
GIDP: Royster (10), Perez (7)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ruthven L(13-11)        7     9   4   4   6   4   0  33   3.40
Beard                   1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   1.80
Totals                  8     9   4   4   6   5   0  36

Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Billingham W(11-8)      9     5   1   1   2   4   0  33   4.25
Totals                  9     5   1   1   2   4   0  33

Wild Pitches: Ruthven (3)
Balks: Ruthven (4)

Umpires: HP - John McSherry, 1B - Art Williams, 2B - Tom Gorman, 3B - Paul Pryor


BRAVES 1ST: Royster struck out; Office grounded out (second to
first); May walked; Montanez grounded out (first unassisted); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 0, Reds 0.

REDS 1ST: Rose singled; Driessen flied out to center; Morgan
walked [Rose to second]; Bench singled to right [Rose scored,
Morgan to third]; Bench was caught stealing second (catcher to
second); Perez lined to pitcher; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves
0, Reds 1.

BRAVES 2ND: Henderson walked; Chaney forced Henderson (pitcher
to shortstop) [Chaney to first]; Gilbreath forced Chaney (second
to shortstop) [Gilbreath to first]; Correll struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 0, Reds 1.

REDS 2ND: Geronimo struck out; Lum grounded out (pitcher to
first); Concepcion singled to right; Billingham struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 0, Reds 1.

BRAVES 3RD: Ruthven singled to second; Royster reached on a
fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt [Ruthven to second]; Office
out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to second) [Ruthven to third,
Royster to second]; May grounded out (first unassisted) [Ruthven
scored, Royster to third]; Montanez grounded out (second to
first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 1.

REDS 3RD: Rose popped to third in foul territory; Driessen
struck out; Morgan walked; Morgan stole second; Ruthven threw a
wild pitch [Morgan to third]; Bench walked; Perez singled to
center [Morgan scored, Bench to third]; Geronimo singled to
center [Bench scored, Perez to third]; Lum grounded out
(shortstop to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 3.

BRAVES 4TH: Henderson flied out to center; Chaney flied out to
center; Gilbreath flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Reds 3.

REDS 4TH: Concepcion singled; Billingham out on a sacrifice bunt
(first to second) [Concepcion to second]; Rose grounded out
(second to first) [Concepcion to third]; Driessen walked; Morgan
popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves
1, Reds 3.

BRAVES 5TH: Correll flied out to left; Ruthven grounded out
(second to first); Royster grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 3.

REDS 5TH: Bench singled to center; Perez grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [Bench out at second];
Geronimo flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1,
Reds 3.

BRAVES 6TH: Office grounded out (third to first); May singled to
right; Montanez hit into a double play (first unassisted) [May
out at third (first to shortstop)]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Reds 3.

REDS 6TH: Lum singled to right; Concepcion lined into a double
play (shortstop to first) [Lum out at first]; Billingham struck
out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 3.

BRAVES 7TH: Henderson grounded out (second to first); Chaney
grounded out (first unassisted); Gilbreath singled to right;
Correll struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 3.

REDS 7TH: Rose singled to center; Driessen popped to third in
foul territory; Morgan walked [Rose to second]; Rose stole third
and Morgan stole second; Bench was walked intentionally; Ruthven
balked [Rose scored, Morgan to third, Bench to second]; Perez
lined to second; Geronimo grounded out (shortstop to first); 1
R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 4.

BRAVES 8TH: GRIFFEY REPLACED DRIESSEN (PLAYING RF); LUM CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); PACIOREK BATTED FOR RUTHVEN; Paciorek
singled to left; Royster grounded into a double play (third to
second to first) [Paciorek out at second]; Office flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 4.

REDS 8TH: BEARD REPLACED PACIOREK (PITCHING); Lum struck out;
Concepcion grounded out (second to first); Billingham grounded
out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 4.

BRAVES 9TH: May grounded out (first to pitcher); Montanez flied
out to left; Henderson singled to right; Chaney struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 4.