McLouth’s homer, 4 RBIs back Hanson’s strong pitching in Braves’ 7-0 win over Reds

Hanson, McLouth lead Braves over Reds 7-0

CINCINNATI — Tommy Hanson allowed three hits in six impressive innings and Nate McLouth homered and drove in four runs, sending the Atlanta Braves to a 7-0 victory over the punchless Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.

One of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Hanson got his first major league hit and RBI. Matt Diaz also homered for the Braves, who snapped a four-game skid and avoided a sweep in Cincinnati.

Hanson (2-0), who made his big league debut with a no-decision against Milwaukee on June 7, walked four and hit a batter with a pitch. But he escaped two jams in his third career start.

The right-hander loaded the bases in the second on two walks and a hit batter, but wriggled out of trouble by striking out pitcher Matt Maloney and Willy Taveras.

The Reds also had runners on first and second with nobody out in the fifth, but Taveras fouled out and Diaz ran down Alex Gonzalez’s bid for an RBI double in the left-center gap. Brandon Phillips flied out to end the threat.

The top six hitters in the Reds’ lineup were a combined 2 for 21, less than 24 hours after their top five batters went 0 for 17 in Cincinnati’s 4-3 win Wednesday night.

Peter Moylan, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano each pitched an inning to finish the five-hitter, Atlanta’s fourth shutout this season. The Reds were blanked for the second time.

Maloney (0-2) also was making his third career start, and he’s allowed six hits each time. The left-hander allowed six runs in 5 2-3 innings.

After the start was delayed 36 minutes by rain, the Braves grabbed the lead in the second on Casey Kotchman’s sacrifice fly.

Diaz made it 2-0 with a homer to left in the fourth, his third of the year and first since April 20.

McLouth added a two-run shot into the right-field seats in the fifth, his 11th this season and second since being traded by Pittsburgh to Atlanta on June 3.

The Braves broke it open in a three-run sixth. With two outs, Hanson drove in one run with a bases-loaded single and McLouth blooped a two-run single to right — giving him as many RBIs in one day as he had in his previous 14 June games.

It was the third time this year that McLouth had a homer and four RBIs in a game.

NOTES: The Reds resume interleague play Friday with a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox. Cincinnati goes into the series on a nine-game losing streak against the White Sox and is just 2-12 in the series. … The Braves wrap up their nine-game road trip with a three-game interleague series at Boston. Atlanta is 14-7 all-time against the Red Sox. … Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan batted fifth, the first of his 57 career starts in a spot higher than sixth.