Braves to begin 10-game road trip after 3-3 homestand

<p>The Atlanta Braves completed a 3-3 homestand with Sunday's 6-2 win over Arizona, and they know the .500 pace won't get them to the playoffs.</p><p>The Braves begin a 10-game road trip on Monday at Cincinnati. After four games against the Reds, the Braves will play a weekend series at St. Louis and then three games at Florida.</p><p>"Playing .500 at home is not good," said manager Bobby Cox. "We'll have to take it and do better than that now."</p><p>But .500 has been the recent trend for Atlanta. The Braves are only 18-17 since the All-Star break. They are 58-58 following their 7-1 start.</p><p>The Braves lost ground on the New York Mets in the NL East by losing the first two games of the series against Arizona.</p><p>"It was a big win today," said first baseman Mark Teixeira, who hit two homers. "We didn't have any room for error. We have a lot of work to do."</p><p>The Mets beat Washington 8-2 on Sunday to remain 5 1/2 games ahead of the Braves.</p><p>"It's gut-check time," said right fielder Jeff Francoeur. "We've got 40 games left. We've got to get going. We've got the pieces. We've got the guys. Now we just have to step up or get out of the way."</p><p>___</p><p>BIG MILESTONE FOR SMOLTZ: There was so little publicity given to John Smoltz's approach to the Braves' franchise strikeout record that it surprised manager Bobby Cox and even Smoltz.</p><p>After Smoltz passed Phil Niekro to become the Braves all-time strikeout leader on Sunday, Cox said he didn't know about the record. When told Smoltz had the franchise record _ for Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta _ Cox was impressed.</p><p>"That's as impressive as it can get," Cox said.</p><p>Smoltz struck out Arizona's Mark Reynolds in the third inning for his 2,913th career strikeout. It was Reynolds' second strikeout of the game.</p><p>Smoltz began the day four behind Niekro's mark of 2,912 with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. He struck out Reynolds in the first inning, Justin Upton and pitcher Yusmeiro Petit in the second and Conor Jackson in the third to tie the mark.</p><p>Smoltz struck out Reynolds again to end the third inning and finished with 2,920.</p><p>"It's certainly an honor I'll think about later," Smoltz said. "I had no idea going into it, until somebody told me."</p><p>Smoltz received an ovation as the record was announced, and he tipped his cap to the fans as he entered the dugout.</p><p>Niekro began his major league career in 1964 with Milwaukee. His last full season with Atlanta was 1983. He returned for one farewell start in 1987.</p><p>Niekro, who pitched for the New York Yankees, Cleveland and Toronto after leaving Atlanta, is 10th all-time with 3,342 strikeouts. Former Braves pitcher Greg Maddux, now with San Diego, is 11th.</p><p>Niekro holds the Atlanta record with 266 career wins. Tom Glavine is second with 242. Smoltz is third with 204 wins.</p><p>___</p><p>WORTH NOTING: The Braves improved to 43-30 against right-handed pitchers, the best mark in the National League. ... Teixeira's two-homer game was the second in two games for the Braves, following Francoeur's two-homer game in Saturday night's loss.</p>

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