Braves Fall Out of First Place

The Atlanta Braves are in unfamiliar territory and floundering.

The Braves fell out of first place in the NL East for the first time since April 19, losing to the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3, Thursday night at Atlanta on Sean Casey’s tiebreaking double in a four-run sixth inning.

Atlanta dropped a half-game behind the idle New York Mets. The Braves lost three of four to Cincinnati, going 2-6 on a homestand that left them with a 14-15 record in August.

San Francisco 10, Pittsburgh 2--Kirk Rueter beat the Pirates as much with his bat as with his arm, driving in four runs to back his two-run pitching at Pittsburgh.

Bill Mueller and Jeff Kent homered as the Giants won three of four in the series to increase their NL West lead over idle Arizona to three games.

San Diego 11, Chicago 5--Phil Nevin drove in four runs at Chicago, but the Padre victory was marred when winning pitcher Jay Witasick was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. Witasick will stay overnight, and the Padres don’t know if he’ll make his next start.