The pitching and batting of Phil Niekro highlighted the Braves' 6-5 defeat of the Reds. The veteran knuckleballer had a no-hitter for six innings but the spell was broken when Dan Driessen stroked a one-out single in the seventh as the Reds picked up two unearned runs.

A three-run eighth inning gave the Braves their margin of victory. Jeff Burroughs singled off Pedro Borbon's right hand, forcing the Reds' reliever to leave the game. Dave Tomlin took over the mound chores and yielded a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases before being yanked in favor of Manny Sarmiento. One out later, Niekro rifled a two-run single to left. [The Sporting News]



Atlanta Braves 6, Cincinnati Reds 5
Game Played on Tuesday, August    8, 1978 (Night game) at Riverfront Stadium
Braves       0  0  1    1  1  0    0  3  0  -   6 10  1
Reds         0  0  0    0  0  0    2  1  2  -   5  5  0


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Royster ss            4   0   1   1     0   1   .271      Rose 3b               3   0   0   0     1   0   .313
Office cf             5   0   1   1     0   1   .257      Kennedy 2b            1   0   0   0     1   0   .221
Matthews rf           5   1   1   0     0   0   .283        Lum ph              1   0   0   0     0   0   .283
Burroughs lf          4   0   1   0     0   1   .318        Borbon p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .222
  Bonnell pr,lf       1   1   0   0     0   1   .233        Tomlin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
Pocoroba c            4   1   2   1     0   0   .242        Sarmiento p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Murphy 1b             4   1   2   1     0   1   .245        Henderson ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .198
Gilbreath 3b          3   0   0   0     1   1   .253        Bair p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .100
Ruiz 2b               3   1   1   0     1   0   .333      Griffey rf            4   1   1   1     0   0   .286
Niekro p              3   1   1   2     1   1   .232      Foster lf             4   0   0   0     0   2   .297
                                                          Driessen 1b           4   1   2   0     0   0   .279
                                                          Concepcion ss         4   1   1   0     0   2   .304
                                                          Geronimo cf           4   1   0   0     0   1   .234
                                                          Correll c             2   0   0   0     0   0   .237
                                                            Bench ph,c          2   1   1   2     0   0   .258
                                                          Hume p                1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
                                                            Collins ph          0   0   0   0     1   0   .234
                                                            Auerbach 2b         0   0   0   0     0   0   .231
                                                            Morgan ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .264
                                                            Knight 2b           1   0   0   0     0   0   .182

Totals               36   6  10   6     3   7             Totals               33   5   5   3     3   6

Time of Game: 2:20   Attendance: 32,730
Left on Base: Braves 7, Reds 4
DP: Braves 0, Reds 0
Errors: Gilbreath
Doubles: Ruiz (2), Royster (13), Office (7)
Home Runs: Griffey (4), Bench (17)
Stolen Bases: Matthews (5), Collins (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Royster (8)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro W(14-11)         9     5   5   3   3   6   2  36   2.89
Totals                  9     5   5   3   3   6   2  36

Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hume L(5-11)            6     6   3   3   1   4   0  25   5.13
Borbon                  1.1   1   1   1   1   1   0   6   4.60
Tomlin                  0     2   2   2   1   0   0   3   4.38
Sarmiento               0.2   1   0   0   0   0   0   3   3.38
Bair                    1     0   0   0   0   2   0   3   1.41
Totals                  9    10   6   6   3   7   0  40

Umpires: HP - Eric Gregg, 1B - Bill Williams, 2B - Dick Stello, 3B - Bruce Froemming


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

REDS 1ST: Rose grounded out (first unassisted); Kennedy grounded
out (shortstop to first); Griffey grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 0, Reds 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Burroughs struck out; Pocoroba grounded out (second
to first); Murphy popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Braves 0, Reds 0.

REDS 2ND: Foster grounded out (pitcher to first); Driessen
grounded out (first to pitcher); Concepcion struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 0, Reds 0.

BRAVES 3RD: Gilbreath grounded out (third to first); Ruiz
doubled to center; Niekro grounded out (pitcher to first);
Royster doubled to right [Ruiz scored]; Office grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 0.

REDS 3RD: Geronimo struck out; Correll popped to second; Hume
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Reds 0.

BRAVES 4TH: Matthews singled to center; Matthews stole second;
Burroughs grounded out (second to first) [Matthews to third];
Pocoroba singled to right [Matthews scored]; Murphy singled to
left [Pocoroba to second]; Gilbreath struck out; Ruiz forced
Murphy (shortstop to second); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 2,
Reds 0.

REDS 4TH: Rose grounded out (shortstop to first); Kennedy
walked; Griffey flied out to center; Foster popped to second; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 2, Reds 0.

BRAVES 5TH: Niekro walked; Royster out on a sacrifice bunt
(pitcher to second) [Niekro to second]; Office doubled to right
[Niekro scored]; Matthews flied out to center; Burroughs flied
out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 3, Reds 0.

REDS 5TH: Driessen popped to shortstop; Concepcion popped to
second; Geronimo popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves
3, Reds 0.

BRAVES 6TH: Pocoroba popped to third in foul territory; Murphy
struck out; Gilbreath grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Braves 3, Reds 0.

REDS 6TH: Correll grounded out (third to first); COLLINS BATTED
FOR HUME; Collins walked; Collins stole second; Rose walked; LUM
BATTED FOR KENNEDY; Lum flied out to left; Griffey grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 3, Reds 0.

BRAVES 7TH: BORBON REPLACED LUM (PITCHING); AUERBACH REPLACED
COLLINS (PLAYING 2B); Ruiz walked; On a bunt Niekro struck out;
Royster flied out to left; Office flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 3, Reds 0.

REDS 7TH: Foster struck out; Driessen singled to right;
Concepcion singled to left [Driessen to second]; Geronimo
grounded out (shortstop to first) [Driessen to third, Concepcion
to second]; BENCH BATTED FOR CORRELL; Bench reached on an error
by Gilbreath [Driessen scored (unearned) (no RBI), Concepcion
scored (unearned) (no RBI), Bench to first]; MORGAN BATTED FOR
AUERBACH; Morgan popped to second in foul territory; 2 R (0 ER),
2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 3, Reds 2.

BRAVES 8TH: KNIGHT REPLACED MORGAN (PLAYING 2B); BENCH STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING C ); Matthews grounded out (third to first);
Burroughs singled to pitcher; Jeff Burroughs singled off
Pedro Borbon's right hand; TOMLIN REPLACED BORBON
(PITCHING); BONNELL RAN FOR BURROUGHS; Pocoroba singled to right
[Bonnell to third]; Murphy singled to left [Bonnell scored,
Pocoroba to second]; Gilbreath walked [Pocoroba to third, Murphy
to second]; SARMIENTO REPLACED TOMLIN (PITCHING); Ruiz popped to
second; Niekro singled to left [Pocoroba scored, Murphy scored,
Gilbreath to second]; Royster flied out to center; 3 R, 4 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Braves 6, Reds 2.

REDS 8TH: BONNELL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Rose popped to
second; HENDERSON BATTED FOR SARMIENTO; Henderson grounded out
(second to first); Griffey homered; Foster struck out; 1 R, 1 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 6, Reds 3.

BRAVES 9TH: BAIR REPLACED HENDERSON (PITCHING); Office struck
out; Matthews popped to catcher in foul territory; Bonnell
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 6, Reds 3.

REDS 9TH: Driessen singled to center; Concepcion struck out;
Geronimo forced Driessen (third to second); Bench homered
[Geronimo scored]; Knight grounded out (shortstop to first); 2
R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 6, Reds 5.