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ATL@CIN: Hanson strikes out five Reds over six strong

Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals' ace, delivered a dominating performance Sunday to guide the Cardinals to an 8-3 victory and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Phillies. The Braves will be looking for just that sort of performance when they turn to Tommy Hanson, their Opening Day starter, in Monday afternoon's series opener against the Cardinals.

Hanson will be trying to stop a losing streak that reached a season-high seven games with a 7-2 loss to the Nationals on Sunday night.

The Braves, who last won May 20 at Tampa Bay, swept a three-game series in St. Louis on May 11-13. Since then, both teams have struggled. The Cardinals are 6-8 in that stretch, while the Braves are 4-10.

Despite the losing streak, Hanson said he will approach Monday's start the same as he would any other.

"I want to go out and my mindset is the same as any other start," Hanson said. "I want to go out and execute my pitches and give us a chance to win."

The Cardinals will counter with right-hander Lance Lynn, who is tied for the Major League lead with seven wins. His only loss came May 13 when Hanson and the Braves beat the Cardinals, 7-4. Lynn also struggled a bit in his last start, but came away with a 6-3 victory against the Padres.

"Now he's working, and he's realizing it's tough to get those 'W's' in this league," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "When he gets knocked around a little bit, you can see him almost kick it up another notch. That's either a part of you or not, and he has that."

Braves: Gonzalez continues to encourage young Braves
• With the Braves on a seven-game losing streak and several key players hurt, including third baseman Chipper Jones, the Braves are looking for something to get them going. The Braves are 7-18 without Jones in the lineup and 19-5 when he starts. Jones said with him on the disabled list, someone needs to step up.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez agreed with Jones' assessment, but said he didn't feel like he needed to explicitly tell his team.

"When I tell them, I encourage, I praise, 'Hang in there,'" he said. "Individually. I'm not a big team-meeting guy. A couple guys have never been in this territory before."

• Braves closer Craig Kimbrel turns 24 on Monday. Kimbrel's 13 saves are the second most in the National League. In his NL Rookie of the Year campaign last year, Kimbrel had 14 saves by his birthday.

Cardinals: Rookie first baseman off to strong start
• First baseman Matt Adams hit his first career home run in the Cardinals' 8-3 victory Sunday against the Phillies. Adams has 10 hits in the first eight big league games, including four extra-base hits.

Adams was called up from Triple-A Memphis on May 20 to replace Lance Berkman when he went on the disabled list. Matheny has quickly taken a liking to his new first baseman.

"He's got some nice power and he doesn't have to over-generate to get it," Matheny said. "He's just nice and short to the ball, and the ball jumps for him pretty good."

• Catcher Yadier Molina left Sunday's game in the fifth inning after suffering from dehydration. He said he took an IV and felt fine after the game.

Sunday's game-time temperature in St. Louis was 90 degrees and it will likely be another hot day in Atlanta on Monday. The high temperature is forecasted to be 88 degrees with 60 percent humidity.

Worth noting
• The Cardinals lead the National League with a plus-63 run differential this season. The Braves are fourth with a plus-20 run differential.

• Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran hit his National League-leading 15th home run Sunday. He has 12 home runs in 53 games at Turner Field in his career.

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