Minor aims to halt winless stretch as Braves host Reds

Mike Minor will try to snap a winless stretch that goes back over a month when the Atlanta Braves right-hander faces the Cincinnati Reds Saturday afternoon in the third installment of a four-game series.

Minor is 0-2 over his last five starts and hasn't won since June 9 at Dodger Stadium. His last home win was May 30 versus Toronto.

Over his career, Minor is 1-1 with a 3.46 EEA in two games against the Reds.

Homer Bailey, who pitched the 16th no-hitter in the franchise history of the Reds two starts ago, gets back on the mound tonight. The right-hander's no- hitter came July 2 against the Giants, but six nights later he was rattled for 10 hits and four runs over 5 2/3 innings at Milwaukee. That loss was the third in the last five starts (1-3) for Bailey, who hasn't received much run support of late. The Reds have scored a total of nine runs over his last five games he's started.

On a positive note, Bailey is 2-0 with a 3.42 ERA in four career games against the Braves.

Last night at Turner Field, Bronson Arroyo threw seven innings of one-run ball to pitch the Reds to a 4-2 win. Arroyo (8-7) allowed only three hits and one walk and had his shutout bid spoiled on a two-out home run by Brian McCann in the seventh inning.

"I had good stuff today for the first time in a little while," Arroyo said. "I had a little zip on my fastball, a little bit sharper breaking ball."

Brandon Phillips hit a two-run double, Todd Frazier tripled in a run and Jay Bruce added a sacrifice fly for the Reds, who had lost four of five coming in, including the opener of this four-game series.

Atlanta won Thursday's game but lost Jason Heyward to a hamstring injury, then watched its two other starting outfielders exit early Friday. B.J. Upton left in the first inning with a right adductor muscle strain, and his brother Justin limped to the locker room in the seventh due to a left calf strain.

"I don't think it's serious. Hopefully we can get them back," Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said of the injured outfielders.

Kris Medlen (6-9) added insult to injury when he was pulled after surrendering four runs on nine hits and a walk in four-plus innings.

The Braves won two out of three in a series with the Reds in early May in Cincinnati, outscoring the hosts, 18-11. The Reds won five of six games between the teams in 2012.