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  Thursday, Apr. 20 12:35pm ET
Reds' big three rattle Giants, 11-1
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Ken Griffey Jr. threw his slump to the wind.

Griffey hit a pair of 400-foot homers into a swirling wind Thursday, leading the Cincinnati Reds to an 11-1 victory over the reeling San Francisco Giants.

Ken Griffey Jr.
The Reds' Ken Griffey now has five home runs on the season.

Barry Larkin also hit a two-run homer and Pokey Reese matched his career high with five hits as the Reds (8-7) moved above .500 for the first time this season.

They're a month ahead of last year, when they didn't have a winning record until May 19, then finished with 96 victories.

"Some of the pieces are starting to fall together," manager Jack McKeon said. "Last year it took us awhile to do it. This year maybe we can do it faster.

"I think it's a little different ballclub now. Griffey's starting to hit and (Sean) Casey's back in the lineup. That gives us a little different look."

Griffey looked a lot better at the plate Thursday as he pulled out of a 2-for-17 slump. He hit the ball to center in all four at-bats, with two drives clearing the wall for two-run homers.

Griffey and Larkin, both former student at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, took turns hitting two-run homers to center, putting the Reds in control early.

Griffey dressed quickly after the game and had little to say about his homers or anything else. Asked if it's a good sign that he's hitting balls hard to center, he said, "I don't know."

Larkin thinks it is.

"I don't think he's gotten to the point where he feels comfortable," Larkin said. "Hopefully that's happening.

"I've said some things to him, but it's more listening to what he has to say -- and he's got quite a few things to say. Plus, what do you tell a guy who hits 50 homers a year -- stay with 'em?"

It was Griffey's first multihomer game with the Reds and the 41st of his career, giving him five homers this season. And it came one day too early, as far as San Francisco is concerned.

"You knew it was a matter of time with him," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "He was barely missing balls the whole series. We were hoping that he would wait to get hot until the Dodgers got here."

San Francisco has lost nine of 10 games in its worst start since 1983, also 4-11.

Griffey's two-run shot in the fourth inning off Livan Hernandez (0-4) easily cut through the wind, landed in the second deck in center and put the Reds ahead 2-1. One inning later, Larkin hit another two-run homer over the wall in center for a 4-1 lead.

Wind gusts jerked the pennants above the stadium, making the flag poles shudder, and redirected high fly balls. Food wrappers got swept up in the swirling wind and darted across the field. Lightning flashed and rain started to fall in the bottom of the eighth inning.

On Griffey's homer in the seventh, center fielder Calvin Murray drifted back and to his left and appeared to have a chance for the catch, then changed course and drifted to his right at the last minute as the wind pushed the ball over the wall.

Noticing the way balls were carrying, Denny Neagle (1-0) made sure to keep his pitches down. He allowed six hits in eight innings, got his first win and extended his career-long success against the Giants -- he's 11-1 in 18 appearances against San Francisco.

"I've been getting hurt by the long ball," said Neagle, who gave up five homers in his first three starts. "With the wind swirling like that, I made a conscious effort to get the ball down in the strike zone. It was pretty much on my mind the whole game."

Neagle got a break when Barry Bonds came down with the flu Thursday morning, causing him to miss a game for the first time this season. Bonds is 13-for-37 (.351) career against Neagle with five homers.

Hernandez gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings, leaving him in a four-game losing streak that matches the longest of his career.

Game notes
Hernandez also lost four games in a row from Aug. 21 to Sept. 12, 1998, with Florida. ... Heading into the series, Giants catchers had thrown out only one of 14 runners trying to steal. They caught 4-of-7 during the three games in Cincinnati. ... The Reds ended their streak of 11 straight games with an error, their longest since 1974. ... Griffey has 39 two-homer games in his career. ... Reese had a pair of four-hit games and the second five-hit game of his career this season. He also had five hits June 22 last year at Arizona.

 


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AUDIO/VIDEO
audio
 Ken Griffey Jr says he's not going to change for anybody.
wav: 62 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

 Pokey Reese says he hit the right pitch.
wav: 123 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6