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  Saturday, Sep. 16 1:15pm ET
Boone's replacement shows he belongs
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Chris Stynes admits that playing every day has started to wear him down. Not that it's showing.

Stynes homered and drove in three runs, and Elmer Dessens survived six shaky innings to win his third straight start as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 Saturday.

Chris Stynes
Chris Stynes is congratulated by third-base coach Ron Oester after hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning.
"I think we're all ready to go home," said Stynes, who has hit .311 with six home runs and 23 RBI in 63 starts since starting third baseman Aaron Boone went down with a season-ending knee injury July 5. "I know I'm much more exhausted, in terms of playing, this year than I was last year. I'm very tired."

Stynes hit an RBI double to cap a three-run first inning against Paul Rigdon (3-4) and added a two-run homer in the sixth, his ninth of the season.

"I knew I hit it good enough to get out, but I didn't know if it was going to be fair or foul," Stynes said. "I'm never out there trying to hit home runs. I just try to hit the ball hard and, luckily, I've been getting it up. When I do try to hit it out, I usually overswing and swing at bad pitches."

Dessens (9-5) allowed two runs and nine hits in six innings to win for the third time this month after going 1-5 in August.

Milwaukee had runners on first and third with one out in the fifth inning, but Dessens escaped by striking out Richie Sexson and getting Jeromy Burnitz to pop out.

Sexson was 5-for-6 with two home runs in his career against Dessens before striking out in the third and the fifth on sinker balls.

"I just tried to be more aggressive," Dessens said. "It looked like he was starting to guess a little bit. When I saw that, I felt more confident."

Rookie John Riedling earned his first career save with three innings of relief despite giving up a solo home run to Burnitz. He struck out five.

The Reds scored three runs in the first to wipe out Milwaukee's 1-0 lead. Michael Tucker reached with one out on a bunt single up the third-base line and moved to second on Dmitri Young's walk. Sean Casey followed with an RBI single and Alex Ochoa hit a sacrifice fly.

Stynes added an RBI double. Third-base coach Ron Oester was holding Casey up at third until Jenkins threw to an uncovered second base.

"There were a few bad things that happened on that turf today," Milwaukee manager Davey Lopes said. "It was not one of the better-played games we've had, all the way around."

The Reds got help from a Milwaukee fielding miscue to build a 4-2 lead in the fifth. With two outs, Pokey Reese hit a blooper down the right-field line that caromed off the wall in foul territory and handcuffed Burnitz, who was unable to pick up the ball cleanly, allowing Reese to score on the triple and error.

The Brewers scored in the first when Mark Loretta tripled with one out and scored on Geoff Jenkins' groundout. They cut Cincinnati's lead to 3-2 in the second on Marquis Grissom's RBI single.

Ochoa capped the scoring with an RBI triple in the eighth.

Game notes
Rigdon allowed four runs -- three earned -- and four hits in five innings. ... C Kevin Brown had two hits in his debut with Milwaukee. ... Before the game, the Brewers purchased the contract of pitcher Mike Buddie from Triple-A Indianapolis and designated pitcher Paul Stewart for assignment. The Reds extended their club-record streak of consecutive games to start a season without being shut out to 150, the fourth-longest in history. ... Casey has 11 RBI in his last 11 games ... The Reds moved five games over .500 for the first time since June 6.
 


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