Braves pitcher no road warrior

CINCINNATI -For reasons that are beyond him, the road has not been Atlanta starter Horacio Ramirez's pal this season.

Cincinnati's streaking slugger Adam Dunn did nothing to alter that pattern Wednesday, in fact he exacerbated Horacio's house of horrors away from Turner Field in an 8-5 Reds victory at Great American Ball Park.

Dunn's three-run homer in the fourth and two-run double with the bases loaded in the sixth were the big strikes for the Reds, who had been walloped 12-2 by the Braves in the series opener Tuesday.

"He's dangerous," Braves manager Bobby Cox said of Dunn, who was named the National League's Player of the Month for July earlier in the day Wednesday. "If you get the ball in the zone, it goes out. It's as simple as that. He hit two rockets off him."

Ramirez is an All-Star at home, with a 6-1 record and a 3.14 ERA. Away from Atlanta, however, he becomes a mediocre pitcher . He's 3-6 with a 5.87 ERA.

"Honestly, it shouldn't be any difference," Cox said of the home-away disparity for the 25-year-old. "It's still 60 feet and same hitters."

Added Ramirez: "It's just a coincidence. I don't know how to explain. I have no explanation for that."

Whatever the reason, three of his season's worst starts have come on the road.

If runs are the statistical value by which you measure inefficiency, then Wednesday was Ramirez's worst start of the year.

Dunn put the Reds on his back, just as he's done the past month or so.

Dunn hit 11 homers and drove in 31 RBI in July - both National League highs.

His home run Wednesday night "went out by 150 feet," in Cox's exaggerated estimation.

Dunn's homer was his 32nd, which tied Atlanta's Andruw Jones and the Cubs' Derrek Lee - who have both been on homer droughts of sorts - for the NL lead.

Reach Travis Haney at travis.haney@morris.com.