By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

MILWAUKEE - By most measures, Adam Dunn has had a good first half of a season. But not by Dunn's measure.

"Very inconsistent," is how Dunn described it.

Dunn went into Friday's game with the Milwaukee Brewers hitting .262 with 25 home runs and 53 RBI.

His average is 47 points higher than last season's, and he's two home runs and 18 RBI short of career highs.

Still, he thinks he can do better.

"I know some people think of me as a .260 hitter," he said. "I don't think of myself that way. I think I can do better than that."

He has lately. In 34 games since the start of June, Dunn hit .281 with 13 home runs and 25 RBI.

With Dunn, there's always a battle between patience and aggressiveness. He entered Friday fourth in the National League in walks (67) and eighth in on-base percentage (.407).

He tends to hit better when he's more aggressive and takes fewer pitches. But he said that's not necessarily a reason for his surge.

"I don't want to say I've been more aggressive," he said. "There are days - with pitches in - where I don't feel like swinging. I still wait for my pitch."

Dunn is pleased with his home run numbers; he was second in that category in the major leagues entering Friday.

"When I make contact, with the kind of swing I have, I'm going to hit the ball out of the ballpark," he said. "But there's definitely room for improvement."

CASEY UPDATE: Sean Casey, back in Cincinnati rehabilitating from a strained right calf, ran the bases Friday.

"He's 80 to 85 percent," trainer Mark Mann said. "He's had no problems. We're working it up to where he can go full speed."

The plan is still for Casey to be in the lineup Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals when the Reds resume play after the All-Star break.

TIME CHANGE: The time of the Reds-Cubs game July 21 in Chicago has been switched from 2:20 p.m. to 7:05 p.m.

ROTATION: The Reds soon will announce their post-All-Star break starting rotation.

Paul Wilson and Cory Lidle almost certainly will be in the first two spots. The question is which two of the trio of Jose Acevedo, Aaron Harang and Jesus Sanchez will start the other two games against St. Louis.

FARM REPORT: Right-hander Dustin Moseley got beat up a bit in his second start for Triple-A Louisville. He allowed eight runs on 11 hits in five innings in the Bats' 14-6 loss to Columbus.

Chris Gruler, Cincinnati's top pick from 2002, continues to pitch well for the Gulf Coast League Reds. He threw five innings Thursday and allowed one run and three hits in a 2-1 victory over the Pirates.

UP NEXT: The Reds play the Brewers in the third game of the four-game series at 7:05 p.m. today. Right-hander Cory Lidle (6-6, 4.84 ERA) will face right-hander Ben Sheets (8-5, 2.42).

Sheets, who made the All-Star team, leads the NL in ERA and is second with 125 strikeouts. He pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 12, in a 1-0 victory over the Cubs Monday.

REDS FACT: Pitcher Cory Lidle will make his 19th start of the season and 200th major-league appearance today.

Reds statistics

(Through Thursday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.352	.402	287	55	101	26	1	15	54	23	21	1	0	4
Larkin	.293	.344	249	43	73	11	2	4	33	21	26	2	0	2
Freel	.281	.381	267	32	75	10	5	1	16	35	44	14	5	7
Castro	.277	.317	137	18	38	13	1	1	10	8	24	0	0	5
Hummel	.272	.318	81	9	22	4	0	1	7	5	12	1	0	3
Dunn	.262	.407	286	55	75	14	0	25	53	67	105	2	0	2
Pena	.260	.308	146	13	38	3	1	7	23	9	47	3	0	2
Jimenez	.259	.367	286	41	74	14	2	6	26	49	46	9	6	4
Griffey	.252	.350	290	47	73	16	0	20	59	43	63	1	0	1
Cruz	.250	.330	84	14	21	5	0	2	18	8	25	0	0	0
LaRue	.223	.318	206	25	46	12	0	7	27	16	55	0	2	7
Larson	.208	.308	101	12	21	6	0	3	12	13	29	1	0	5
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Valentin	.170	.221	112	11	19	5	0	3	10	8	17	0	0	3
Miller	.000	.348	15	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	6	0	0	0
Team Totals	.250	.337	2871	399	719	147	13	98	375	341	666	36	14	51

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Graves	1	3	2.83	47	0	31	47.2	45	20	15	9	5	26
Jones	6	2	3.38	44	0	1	50.2	38	20	19	3	21	34
White	0	1	3.48	10	0	0	10.1	8	4	4	3	0	8
Wilson	9	2	3.66	17	17	0	108.1	113	47	44	13	35	72
Riedling	4	2	3.91	41	0	0	46.0	45	24	20	3	23	28
Harang	4	2	4.71	13	13	0	70.2	88	38	37	8	26	55
Lidle	6	6	4.84	18	18	0	115.1	121	63	62	14	28	71
Acevedo	4	7	5.20	17	17	0	98.2	106	58	57	20	24	77
Norton	1	2	5.73	35	0	0	33.0	36	24	21	3	19	22
Van Poppel	3	3	5.87	17	10	0	69.0	82	45	45	10	14	42
Wagner	2	1	5.94	19	0	0	16.2	26	13	11	3	11	10
Sanchez	0	1	6.97	2	2	0	10.1	13	8	8	3	7	6
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Team Totals	45	40	4.92	85	85	32	755.2	824	441	413	111	266	505

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com