Rockies End Celebration by Griffey

Ken Griffey Jr. raised his arms in triumph after his two-run double put the Cincinnati Reds ahead in the seventh inning Saturday night, but the Colorado Rockies tied it in the ninth off Danny Graves and won, 8-7, on an error in the 12th inning at Cincinnati.

The game lasted four hours and 32 minutes, the longest for either team this season. It also equaled the longest road game in Rockies’ history.

“Nobody’s tired when you’re winning,” said Juan Pierre, whose double set up the winning run in the 12th. “Everything is OK when you’re winning.”

Not even Griffey’s best moment of the season could get the Reds a victory at home, where they’ve lost 18 of 20 games. They’re 7-23 overall at Cinergy Field, the majors’ worst home record.

“It was a pretty good game,” Manager Bob Boone said. “We just couldn’t close the deal.”

Jeff Cirillo and Todd Helton had run-scoring singles in the ninth off Graves to tie it at 7, and Brent Mayne scored the winning run on catcher Kelly Stinnett’s error in the 12th.

Mayne drew a two-out walk from Jim Brower (3-5), Cincinnati’s eighth pitcher. He scored when Pierre doubled into the right-field corner and Stinnett dropped the relay throw while trying to make a one-handed sweep tag.

The ball beat Mayne, who went a step inside the line to run into Stinnett, hoping to dislodge the ball. The catcher never had it.

“I was just running as hard as I could,” Mayne said. “I didn’t think I’d beat the ball [home]. I felt if I slid, he would have blocked the plate.”

Jose Jiminez (3-0) got the win, and Craig Dingman got the final three outs for his first career save.

By taking the first two games, the Rockies clinched only their second road series of the season. They had a three-game sweep in San Diego from April 17-19.

After Larry Walker’s two-run homer put the Rockies ahead, 4-2, in the seventh, the Reds took the lead with a gritty rally that provided a rare moment of revelry at Cinergy.

Stinnett bowled over Ben Petrick to score on Jason LaRue’s pinch single off Mike Hampton--the catcher’s mask and helmet went flying--and Sean Casey tied it with another pinch single.

Griffey, who returned from a torn hamstring on Friday night, lined a two-run double to left off Mike Myers for his first extra-base hit of the season. Griffey raised both arms in triumph and punched the air as he stood on second base and the 29,937 fans celebrated.

“I’m trying to erase some zeros in some columns,” said Griffey, who went 2 for 6 and flied out to the warning track twice. “I finally got one RBI. I’m trying not to do too much, but I hit four out of six pretty well.”

Texas Ranger catcher Ivan Rodriguez and third baseman Ken Caminiti left Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros with injuries.

Caminiti pulled his left hamstring rounding first base after hitting a single in the seventh inning. He was thrown out limping into second base and was replaced by Scott Sheldon.

Rodriguez fell to the turf in the bottom of the seventh following a grounder hit by Craig Biggio. He was helped from the field and replaced by Marcus Jensen.

Trainers said Rodriguez was removed as a precautionary measure because of tightness in his left hamstring.