Griffey is Back, But Reds Aren’t

Ken Griffey Jr. got his first hit of the season in a limited role that will have to do for now.

Griffey came off the disabled list and singled in three at-bats, but Todd Helton and Ron Gant hit home runs as the Colorado Rockies rolled to an 8-4 victory Friday night over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds were hoping for a renaissance when they fielded their projected starting lineup for the first time this season. Griffey, shortstop Barry Larkin and third baseman Aaron Boone came off the disabled list before the game.

Griffey received the loudest ovations from a crowd of 28,301, but managed only a modest single up the middle along with two groundouts. Griffey, who tore his hamstring during spring training, left the game as a precaution with rain falling in the sixth.

The hamstring isn’t back to full strength, so he’s going to have to play it safe for the foreseeable future.

“My biggest concern was reinjuring it,” he said. “If you do that, you probably need surgery, and I didn’t want to do that. Now what I have to do is get the strength up, and that’s going to take a while. I might have to do what I did tonight, or take a day off every once in a while.”

The Reds (25-40) have lost four in a row, falling 15 games below .500 for the first time since 1998.