Just before the game, Francoeur called the smallish ballpark, quot;a hitter's dream. I'd say this is the best place in Baseball to hit.quot;

But the Braves had no hits through four innings. Only Reds starter Edinson Volquez's near-complete loss of command stoked the Braves' offensive hopes.

Javier Vazquez (2-1) pitched six tough innings, and the bullpen held as the Braves notched their first consecutive wins in 10 games and improved their record to 8-8.

Mike Gonzalez worked a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts for his second save.

Vazquez's work was overshadowed for much of the night by the curious performance of Volquez (2-2). He didn't give up a hit until the fifth, but issued five walks in the two-run fourth, including four consecutive two-out walks.

Volquez walked Vazquez with the bases loaded to bring in the tying run, then walked Kelly Johnson to bring in the second run for a 2-1 Braves lead.

At that point, the only three runs the Braves had scored in 21 innings had come via bases-loaded walks, including Johnson's game-winner in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 1-0 victory at Washington.

The Braves improved to 3-4 at the last stop of a nine-game trip that ends Sunday.

Vazquez allowed seven hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. Meanwhile, his young counterpart became one of the few pitchers to draw boos from a home crowd while taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

Volquez surrendered three runs, one hit and seven walks with seven strikeouts in five innings. His 97 pitches included 40 in the fourth inning, when he became the first major-league pitcher to walk five in an inning this season.

He also hit Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar in the third inning, a fastball in the back that triggered a near-brawl. The fiery Escobar walked toward the mound, pointing and shouting at Volquez, who began shouting back.

Home plate umpire Tim Tschida and Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez jumped in front of Escobar. Both benches and bullpens cleared, but order was restored before any punches were thrown. There were no ejections, just warnings for both dugouts.

Birthday boy Chipper Jones, who turned 37 on Friday, was the only Braves starter who failed to reach base, but he helped the cause with a terrific barehanded play that prevented speedy Willy Taveras from reaching base on a bunt in the fifth.

The Braves tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on Matt Diaz's RBI single, which proved to be crucial during some moments of late-innings consternation.

Reliever Peter Moylan escaped the seventh on a fly-out by Brandon Phillips with two on. Rafael Soriano gave up a double and walk to start the eighth, but he limited damage to one run on a sacrifice fly before an inning-ending ground-out.

NEXT FOR Braves

* Who: at Reds

* When: 1:10 p.m. today

* TV; radio: SPSO; 640/96.1