By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A hint of surprise remains evident in their voices. But the shock factor is slowly fading - even in instances like Wednesday, when Reds third baseman Aaron Boone hit a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth to give Cincinnati a 7-6 win at Tropicana Field.

PHOTO GALLERY

Wednesday's game

"We're kinda good at making it interesting," he said. "There's never too big of a lead. There's never too small of a lead."

Cincinnati has won 17 games in its final at-bat. Twenty-two victories have come by two runs and 15 by one run.

"We're trying to set some kind of record for one- and two-run wins," manager Bob Boone said.

Though Wednesday's victory pulled the Reds back to .500 and was their second straight against the Devil Rays, it wasn't all good news.

Presented a six-run lead by the third inning - thanks in part to catcher Kelly Stinnett's grand slam in the third - pitcher John Riedling let it vanish by the fifth.

Did he jeopardize his spot in the rotation?

"I'm savoring the win right now," Bob Boone said. "There's plenty of time to think about that later."

The right-hander has allowed 17 earned runs in his last three starts covering 10 2/3 innings. He is 0-3 with a 7.32 ERA as a starter.

After retiring the Devil Rays in order in the first and second innings, Riedling allowed five in the third.

"It just seems like when they get a little spark going, I'm just throwing gas out there," Riedling said. "It just explodes."

The Reds got out of the inning when right fielder Jose Guillen, who threw out the potential game-tying run Tuesday, easily threw out Aubrey Huff at home plate.

It was Guillen's team-leading fifth outfield assist this season.

Riedling pitched a perfect fourth but loaded the bases with one out in the fifth.

Felix Heredia came on, and the Devil Rays tied the game at six on a sacrifice fly by Huff.

Heredia retired seven of the nine batters he faced before giving way to Chris Reitsma with one out in the seventh. Reitsma threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.

Scott Williamson pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save.

Subtract Joey Hamilton, and Reds relievers are 5-0 with a 1.17 ERA in their past 12 games.

"The bullpen was huge for us tonight," Aaron Boone said. "Our guys came in and shut them down."

Devil Rays relievers Jorge Sosa and Jesus Colome allowed one run in four innings.

With Guillen on second base in the ninth, Colome intentionally walked Reds right fielder Austin Kearns to set up a potential force play with two outs.

That brought up Boone, who entered hitting .423 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

He laced a single to left field that scored Guillen easily.

"I had a bad at-bat the time before and really just tried to concentrate on getting a strike to hit," Boone said. "Then I got one and got a good piece of it."

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Casey 1b	4	0	0	0	1	0	.282
JGuillen rf	4	2	2	0	1	0	.340
Griffey Jr. dh	5	1	1	0	0	1	.275
Kearns cf	4	0	1	1	1	1	.283
ABoone 3b	4	1	2	1	1	1	.268
Dunn lf	3	2	0	0	2	0	.204
Stinnett c	4	1	2	4	0	0	.294
FLopez ss	2	0	0	1	1	0	.207
Olmedo 2b	3	0	0	0	0	0	.258
Totals	33	7	8	7	7	3

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Crawford lf	5	2	1	1	0	0	.259
MAnderson 2b	4	0	0	0	1	1	.246
Baldelli cf	5	1	3	2	0	2	.332
Huff rf	3	0	1	3	0	1	.302
Hall c	4	0	1	0	0	0	.283
TLee 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.259
Grieve dh	3	1	0	0	0	1	.250
Sandberg 3b	3	1	0	0	1	3	.237
Lugo ss	4	1	2	0	0	0	.247
Totals	35	6	8	6	2	8

Cincinnati	114	000	001	-7	8	2
Tampa Bay	005	010	000	-6	8	1

E-Casey (3), Dunn (8), Hall (7). LOB-Cincinnati 8, Tampa Bay 6. 2B-JGuillen (9), Stinnett (8), Huff (23), Lugo (3). HR-Stinnett (2), off Brazelton. RBIs-Kearns (54), ABoone (39), Stinnett 4 (10), FLopez (13), Crawford (20), Baldelli 2 (35), Huff 3 (35). SB-MAnderson (9). S-Olmedo. SF-FLopez, Huff.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 4 (Casey, Griffey Jr., ABoone, Dunn); Tampa Bay 3 (Crawford, Baldelli, TLee).

Runners moved up-Olmedo.

DP-Cincinnati 1 (JGuillen and Stinnett).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Riedling	4	6	6	5	2	2	70	6.58
Heredia	2 1/3	1	0	0	0	2	38	2.82
Reitsma W, 6-2	1 2/3	1	0	0	0	2	22	5.71
Williamson S, 15	1	0	0	0	0	2	14	3.12

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Brazelton	5	6	6	6	5	1	89	6.75
JoSosa	2	0	0	0	1	1	29	5.17
Colome L, 1-3	2	2	1	1	1	1	29	3.57

Riedling pitched to 3 batters in the 5th, Brazelton pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

Inherited runners-scored-Heredia 3-1, JoSosa 1-0.

IBB-off Colome (Kearns) 1. HBP-by Riedling (Grieve). WP-Williamson, Colome.

Umpires-Home, Ed Rapuano; First, Gerry Davis; Second, Lance Barksdale; Third, Mark Carlson.

T-2:54. A-10,105 (43,772).