MIAMI — Of the Reds' 31 victories this season, very few have been by knockout. And you wouldn't have expected one Wednesday night with phenom right-hander Josh Beckett pitching for the Florida Marlins. But the Reds knocked down Beckett and the Marlins early, and they never got up. The Reds won it 8-2 before 6,836 fans at Pro Player Stadium.

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Joey Hamilton threw six shutout innings. (AP Photos) 600 | 800 | 1024

        The knockout blow: a three-run homer by Aaron Boone in the Reds' five-run first.

        “To jump out on a guy like (Beckett) is huge,” Boone said.

        The Reds have won two straight games, and they opened a 1 1/2-game lead over St. Louis in the National League Central. The Cardinals lost 10-5 to the Houston Astros.

        Reds right-hander Joey Hamilton (3-2) made all the early offense hold up, despite pitching with a sore back. He threw six shutout innings for his first win since May 1.

        Beckett, 22, is one of the prized arms in the Marlins' young staff. He had allowed just six hits over 20 innings in his last three starts.

        But the Reds had six hits and five runs before Beckett recorded his second out.

Aaron Boone hits a three-run homer. | ZOOM |

        “(Beckett) got behind a little,” Boone said. “He gave us some good pitches to hit and we took advantage of it.”

        Todd Walker started the game with a hit, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, and Juan Encarnacion followed with a single.

        Sean Casey then shot a double into the left-field corner to score one run, and Adam Dunn got another run in with a single to right.

        Austin Kearns struck out, bringing up Boone, who launched a home run to straightaway center that made it 5-0.

        “That's as good as I've ever hit one to center or the other way,” Boone said. “That's a long way out there. I hit it about as good as I can.”

        The homer extended Boone's hitting streak to five games. He's hitting .500 with four homers and seven RBI during the streak.

        It looked as if the Marlins might make a game of it in their half of the first, but Hamilton escaped a bases- loaded, one-out jam by getting Kevin Millar to hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

        The Reds finished off Beckett in the second on Casey's RBI single and Dunn's run-scoring double.

        Beckett went one-plus innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and taking his ERA from 2.90 to 4.09. It was the shortest outing of his career.

        Hamilton, making his second start since coming off the 15-day disabled list (pulled left hamstring), looked to be in pain after giving up a two-out double to Charles Johnson in the second. But it wasn't his leg — it was a cramp in his back that developed during warm-ups.

        Hamilton bent over to stretch his back, and Bob Boone and trainer Greg Lynn visited the mound.

        “Bob said, "How are you?'” Hamilton said. “I said, "Fine.' He said, "Bull.' I felt good enough to get through it.”

        A 2 2/3-inning outing would have been rough on the Reds' bullpen, considering starter Elmer Dessens lasted only 3 2/3innings in Tuesday's 11-inning game.

        Hamilton stayed in but quickly fell behind the next hitter, pitcher Michael Tejera, 3-0. Hamilton looked angry with himself at that point.

        “Any time you get down 1-0 or 2-0, much less 3-0 to a pitcher, you kick yourself in the rear,” he said.

        Hamilton recovered, though, firing two strikes past Tejera before getting him to fly out. That started a streak in which Hamilton retired 13 of 15 batters.

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