Homers Are Load on Boone’s Mind

After three at-bats, Aaron Boone had three homers and way too many thoughts of history flooding his mind.

Boone hit three homers off Brett Tomko, including two during Cincinnati’s nine-run first inning, then came up short in his uneasy quest for four Friday night as the Reds held on for a 12-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.

After Boone got the three homers so fast, his teammates started telling him stories about other players who have tried for four. Four in one game? Boone never imagined he’d have three.

“I hit four once in tee-ball,” he said. “I used to whale them to right field.

“I don’t even know what to say. It was just kind of weird. After I hit the third homer, I was a fish out of water and a little uncomfortable out there the rest of the game.”

He struck out and had an infield single, completing the best overall game of his career. His four hits and five runs batted in tied his career highs and helped him win back some family bragging rights.

“Now he can tell his mom that he hit more homers [in a game] than his dad,” said his father, Manager Bob Boone.

He also had kept up with his brother, Bret, who hit two homers in an inning for Seattle on May 2. Bret Boone has a pair of three-homer games.

With a chance to do his brother one better, Boone lost his touch. He struck out swinging in the sixth against Kevin Walker and had an infield single in the eighth off Jeremy Fikac.

“You want to go for it,” he said. “You want to take a shot at history a little bit. It was pretty weird. I’m glad it’s over.”

So was Tomko (5-8), who was responsible for the biggest first inning ever against the Padres. Jason LaRue also had a two-run homer in the first as the Reds put together their biggest inning in three years.

“I don’t know how to explain that first inning,” Tomko said. “You don’t see that very often. I told [Barry] Larkin when he got to second base to take the tee off the plate. It was one of those innings where if something’s going to go wrong, it will go wrong.”

It almost wasn’t enough for knuckleballer Jared Fernandez, who couldn’t control his darting pitch. The Padres cut the lead to 9-5 in the third, and Ryan Klesko came to bat with the bases loaded representing the tying run. He grounded out, ending the Padres’ chance to catch up.

They made the Reds squirm in the ninth, when pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay hit a two-run homer and closer Danny Graves started warming in the Reds’ bullpen.

Jose Rijo (5-3) pitched two innings and gave up Tom Lampkin’s solo homer that cut it to 10-5.