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.

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