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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MONTREAL (AP) -- Ken Griffey Jr. and Sean Casey prefer to let
others keep track of their accomplishments. They just want to win.
Griffey hit his 14th career grand slam and Casey extended his
career-best hitting streak to 19 games as the Cincinnati Reds beat
the Montreal Expos 8-3 on Friday night.
|  | | Ken Griffey Jr. watches his grand slam off Montreal Expos pitcher Mike Johnson during the second inning Friday. Griffey now has 14 career slams. |
"I just hit home runs," Griffey said. "Sometimes people are
on, sometimes they're not."
Elmer Dessens (5-0) won his fourth straight start since joining
the rotation following the All-Star break as the Reds snapped a
three-game losing streak.
Griffey, making his first career appearance at Olympic Stadium,
hit his 32nd homer in the second off Mike Johnson (5-5) for his
second grand slam of the season.
The grand slam tied Griffey with Gil Hodges and Robin Ventura
for ninth in career grand slams.
"I don't go up there thinking, 'If I hit a home run here, I
have a chance to pass this guy,"' Griffey said. "My biggest thing
is going out there and trying to help the guy behind me, make his
job easier, and if I hit a home run, I hit a home run. If I hit one
in the gap and we score, as long as we win, that's the most
important thing.
Casey hit a two-run double in the first for Cincinnati's longest
hitting streak since Hal Morris hit safely in 29 straight games in
1996. He also singled in the third.
"I really didn't think about it too much," Casey said. "I
guess you're going to have streaks in baseball. As long as I'm
hitting that ball and keep hitting the ball hard, that's really all
I'm concerned about right now."
Ed Taubensee went 4-for-5, barely missing a home run with two
outs in the seventh as his drive landed on top of the right-field
wall and bounced back for a double.
"I didn't think I'd hit it good enough to go out," Taubensee
said. "I was just trying to get a double out of it."
Montreal lost its fourth straight following a four-game winning
streak. The Expos have lost 14 of their last 20 home games,
including four of five.
The Reds got out to a 6-0 lead on Casey's first-inning double
and Griffey's grand slam in the second.
"Any time you spot your pitcher a lead, that's an important
thing," Griffey said. "You go out there in the second inning and
you're up by six, that's positive for him. He can go out there and
know that he can relax and make some pitches."
Dessens allowed just one hit -- Vladimir Guerrero's leadoff
single in the second -- through the first four innings before
allowing a run on three straight singles by Geoff Blum, Chris
Widger and Tomas De La Rosa leading off the fifth.
"It felt good to get that lead and I was more comfortable
throwing my pitches," Dessens said through an interpreter.
"Whenever you get a big lead like that, you just try not to make
mistakes."
Johnson allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings.
Cincinnati scored an unearned run in the sixth off reliever
Felipe Lira as center fielder Milton Bradley turned the wrong way
on Griffey's drive to center and dropped the ball on the warning
track for his first major league error. Chris Stynes, who had
doubled, scored from second to make it 7-1.
The Expos scored two in the seventh to draw to 7-3 on
consecutive RBI grounders by pinch-hitters Fernando Seguignol and
Wilton Guerrero.
"We kind of came back after the second inning but it was too
late," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. "The bullpen did a real
good job of keeping them down a little bit."
Dessens allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings. He
struck out two and walked one.
Dmitri Young added an RBI double off reliever Steve Kline in the
eighth.
Game notes
Griffey was greeted by a warm ovation from the crowd of
11,547 as he batted in the first. ... Casey, who entered the game
tied with Young for the longest Reds hitting streak this season, is
29-for-71 (.408) with four home runs and 17 RBIs during the streak.
... Cincinnati RHP Scott Sullivan dropped his appeal of the
three-game suspension imposed on him July 19 for hitting Colorado's
Brian Hunter with a pitch. ... Expos 1B Lee Stevens returned to the
starting lineup after missing the last seven games with a bruised
right hand. ... Montreal placed Hideki Irabu on the 15-day DL
following the game with stiffness in his right elbow. Irabu was
activated just the day before and pitched six innings in his first
start in nearly two months after having arthroscopic surgery on his
right knee. Guillermo Mota was recalled from Triple-A Ottawa for
the fourth time this season.
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