Aaron Boone doubles up Ramon Vazquez at second base. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Ryan Dempster, down to what could have been his last chance, came up with the kind of quality start the Reds were hoping would be standard procedure with him.

        Dempster went six shutout innings, allowing just four hits, to beat the San Diego Padres 9-0 before a sellout crowd of 40,814 on Adam Dunn bobblehead night Saturday. It was the third sellout of the year for the Reds.

        “That's the Ryan Dempster I know — 90 to 94 (mph), nasty slider, going right at people,” Sean Casey said.

        Reds manager Bob Boone all but said Dempster needed a good start to keep his spot in the rotation. Dempster did better than that, putting together an excellent start under pressure.

        The Reds entered the game knowing they had to win or they were going to lose ground in the National League Central race. St. Louis beat the New York Mets 5-4, and Houston beat Atlanta 8-5 earlier Saturday.

        “It's exciting to know the game means a lot,” Dempster said. “That makes it fun.”

        The start was by far Dempster's best of the year for the Reds. He entered the game with a 1-3 record and 11.74 ERA since the trade that brought him to the Reds July11.

Sean Casey rarely gets cheated on a swing. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        He struck out six and walked four. Dempster (7-11 overall and 2-3 as a Red) had given up at least four runs and six hits in his previous five starts for the Reds. He was hammered for 10 runs in his last start — a week ago against the Padres.

        The difference Saturday?

        “He kept the ball down,” Boone said. “He used his changeup extremely well. He was able to locate all his pitches. He throws plenty hard enough, but you've got to locate the fastball.”

        “I'd like to think that's the real Ryan Dempster,” Dempster said. “I've had little patches where I was good, but to go out and do it for six innings... ”

        The Reds came out swinging again. The team has scored 42 runs in their five games with the Padres this season.

        The hitting stars were Jason LaRue (3-for-3, home run, three RBI) and Casey (4-for-5, three doubles). It was Casey's second three-double game of the year. Before Casey's three-double game May 6, no Red had had three doubles in a game since Hal Morris on Aug.17, 1996.

Ryan Dempster made his best start to date for the Reds. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Casey, of course, just returned from the disabled list where he was rehabbing a torn shoulder muscle.

        “I felt great,” he said. “Coming off the disabled list, I wanted to be a factor, a difference-maker in the game, drive in some runs. I'm just one piece of the lineup.”

        Each piece was working. Seven of the eight starters had at least one hit and one RBI. Todd Walker, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr. and Austin Kearns all had two hits as the Reds pounded out 16 on the night. Walker hit his eighth home run of the year.

        Equally important, the Reds gave Dempster a 4-0 lead to work with after three innings.

        Dempster had a shaky first — allowing a single and two walks to load the bases with two outs — but he got out of it with a groundout. That started a stretch in which he retired 11 of 12.

Aaron Boone slides safely into home as Padres catcher Wil Nieves waits for the throw. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        The streak ended with Ramon Vazquez's single with two outs in the fifth. Dempster then walked Mark Kotsay and Ryan Klesko to load the bases. Dempster got Phil Nevin to ground out to end it.

        “He got in some tight spots,” LaRue said. “But when he needed to, he made big pitches. He never gave into any hitter.”

        The fifth was the last San Diego threat of the night. Bruce Chen (one inning) and Joey Hamilton (two innings in his first relief stint since 1999) closed out the shutout.

        “Chen was special,” Boone said. “Hamilton was special. We swung the bats like we can. It was a good night for us.”

Reds 9, Padres 0 Reds box, runs Reds Q&A Cinergy countdown - Sept. 17, 1983 Pain still afflicting Pineda Astros 8, Braves 5 Cardinals 5, Mets 4 Notes from Saturday's games John Fay's MLB power ratings Lieberthal hits three homers against Dodgers Little progress in labor talks Williams' son ends his baseball experiment Columbus 5, Louisville 2

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