Rookie Gets First Win as Reds Defeat Braves, 6-1

On a day when things weren’t going well for Pete Rose, Cincinnati rookie pitcher Scott Scudder made things better for his manager on the field when the Reds defeated the Braves, 6-1, Thursday at Atlanta.

“The kid pitched a good ballgame,” Rose said, whose Reds snapped a four-game losing streak when Scudder gained his first victory. “I would like to have seen him get a shutout, but once he lost the shutout, he’d given us enough.”

Scudder lost the shutout when he yielded three consecutive singles at the start of the eighth inning, but Rob Dibble retired the last six Braves in order, four on strikeouts, to preserve the victory.

Scudder (1-1) allowed up seven hits and two walks, striking out five. He was recalled from the Reds’ triple-A farm at Nashville earlier in the day.

The Reds gave Scudder an early lead on a three-run homer by Barry Larkin and a two-run shot by Todd Benzinger.

“The reason for no offense was that kid pitched very well,” Atlanta Manager Russ Nixon said. “He’s a good looking pitcher.”

Scudder was pleased with his first victory but still wanted more. “As a pitcher, you want a shutout and not just want a victory. However, this is more of a relief, than anything. Now I can relax.”

Cincinnati took a 3-0 lead in the third on Larkin’s third homer of the season and first since April 17.

Luis Quinones opened the inning with a single and went to second on Scudder’s sacrifice. After Chris Sabo fouled out, Benzinger walked and Larkin followed with his homer over the left field fence.

Sabo started the fifth with a single and scored on Benzinger’s seventh homer of the season, a drive over the center-field fence. The homer chased Atlanta’s Tom Glavine (7-4), who gave up six hits in four-plus innings.

Cincinnati added a run in the sixth when Quinones doubled and scored on a single by Sabo.