Griffey Sr. Again Sees Something in the Kid

Ken Griffey Jr. was in a hitting slump three weeks ago when he paid a visit to his father in Cincinnati during a day off.

“He threw me two pitches in the batting cage and told me exactly what I was doing wrong,” said Griffey, who corrected the mechanical flaws and has been on a tear ever since.

Griffey hit his major league-leading 19th home run and Edgar Martinez had a grand slam in the Seattle Mariners’ 11-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Griffey extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games, during which he has raised his batting average from .286 to .328 and moved into a tie with Ralph Kiner for 45th on the all-time home run list at 369. He said the advice from his father, former major leaguer Ken Griffey Sr., was much more valuable than just watching videotape of his at-bats.

“I got a guy who raised me, who was here in the big leagues when he was 22. He knows my swing inside and out. It was more important for me to go home,” Griffey said.

Griffey’s home run hit the white curtain in the upper deck at the Metrodome, an estimated 453 feet from home plate.

Alex Rodriguez hit one of the Mariners’ four home runs. He is batting .395 (19 for 48) with five doubles, six home runs, 11 RBIs and 19 runs in 12 games since coming off the disabled list.

Cleveland 6, Chicago 2--Manny Ramirez went four for four, including his 13th home run, and had two RBIs to raise his major league-leading total to 59 at Cleveland.

Ramirez, continuing an RBI tear from the second half of last season, has driven in 165 runs in his last 139 games.

New York 8, Boston 3--Tino Martinez hit a grand slam and Orlando Hernandez (5-4) gave up three hits in seven shutout innings at New York. The Yankees had lost nine of their previous 14 games.

Derek Jeter went two for five and has reached base in all 44 games this season--the longest streak for the Yankees since at least 1961.

Texas 8, Tampa Bay 6--Closer John Wetteland walked the first batter he faced to load the bases with two out in the ninth inning, then struck out pinch-hitter Wade Boggs on three pitches to enable the Rangers to complete a three-game sweep at St. Petersburg, Fla. Wetteland has 14 saves in 15 opportunities.

Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Jose Canseco hit his 18th home run for Tampa Bay.

Toronto 9, Detroit 5--Homer Bush, who had five RBIs all last season with the Yankees, had a three-run double as the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep at Detroit. Bush was a throw-in in the trade that sent Roger Clemens to the Yankees.

Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green hit home runs for Toronto and raised their RBI totals to 46 and 48, respectively.

Oakland 3, Kansas City 1--Jimmy Haynes did not give up an earned run in 6 2/3 innings as the Athletics won their seventh in a row at home--their longest streak since June 1994. Kansas City had scored 72 runs in its previous 10 games but managed only four hits against Haynes (3-5).