Griffey Lays One Down, Hits One Out

Mo Vaughn was three for four for Boston, including a two-run double in the fifth inning, and he is batting .500 for the Red Sox.

You’ll never catch him bunting.

Then again, odds were that you wouldn’t catch Ken Griffey Jr. bunting, either, but on Saturday night he confounded those odds.

Griffey had a home run, but he also had a first-inning bunt single against the Red Sox shift in a 12-6 Mariner win at Seattle.

“He was trying to keep the defense honest,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said.

Seattle didn’t try any more bunts, but it hit three home runs, including one by Griffey in the second inning, and Bill Swift got his first AL victory since 1991.

Griffey hit his third homer and drove in three runs, and Glenallen Hill and Rick Wilkins also connected for the Mariners, who have 13 homers in four games after setting a record with 264 last year.

Wilkins, the backup to catcher Dan Wilson, homered 352 feet into the right-field stands.

“You’ve got that nice, short right-field porch,” Wilkins said. “I know if I react to the ball and get good wood on it, then the ball is probably going to go out.”

Griffey, who hit 56 homers last season, surprised third baseman John Valentin, who was playing where the shortstop normally stands, by laying down a perfect bunt with none on and two outs in the first.

The bunt is Griffey’s only hit this season that is not a home run.

Swift (1-0), released by Colorado and Baltimore last August, gave up four runs, five hits and four walks in five innings, getting his first AL win since June 13, 1991, when he beat Detroit in relief for the Mariners.

“That was nice,” said Swift, 36, whose career has been in jeopardy because of shoulder problems the past three seasons. “I felt good. If I can give this team six or seven strong innings, I know it’s going to score a lot of runs.”

Seattle took a 6-0 lead in the second off rookie Brian Rose (0-1). Hill hit a three-run homer, Alex Rodriguez had a sacrifice fly and Griffey a two-run homer.

“Spotting them six is pretty tough considering the kind of hitting ballclub they have,” Boston Manager Jimy Williams said.

Wilkins, who went three for four and scored three runs, had a two-run homer in the fifth for an 11-4 lead.

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