Griffey Is the Star, but Mariners Win

Junior got the hits and made the incredible catch, yet his former team got along just fine without him.

Ken Griffey Jr. singled for his 2,000th hit and smacked into the padded outfield wall to steal a hit Tuesday night but could only slow the Seattle Mariners as they rolled to an 8-1 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati.

Joel Pineiro pitched 6 1/3 innings and drove in two runs with a single--his first major league hit--but the focus was on Griffey.

He had an infield single in his first at-bat for his 2,000th hit.

In the sixth, Griffey slammed into the wall in center field to catch Ben Davis’ sacrifice fly, holding on as he did a backward flip, then popping to his feet as his hat flew off.

For that one moment, it seemed like old times.

“Great play,” said Mariner Manager Lou Piniella, who had Griffey for seven years in Seattle. “I thought the ball was going to go off the wall. I’ve seen Junior make a lot of great plays. It’s good to see him back on the field. I hope he stays healthy.”

Arizona 6, Baltimore 3--Brian Anderson (2-6) won for the first time in his last 18 regular-season starts, and Erubiel Durazo homered and drove in three runs for the Diamondbacks at Phoenix.

Tampa Bay 8, San Francisco 3--Greg Vaughn and Aubrey Huff each homered at San Francisco and the Devil Rays won for the fourth time in six games.

Joe Kennedy (5-5) gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings for Tampa Bay.

New York Yankees 10, Colorado 5--Derek Jeter and Robin Ventura each homered and drove in three runs apiece at Colorado, where the Yankees had 17 hits and homered three times to help Mike Mussina (10-3) overcome a rough start.

Minnesota 6, New York Mets 1--Johan Santana (2-1) gave up three hits in six innings, and Torii Hunter homered to lift the Twins at New York.

Dustan Mohr and A.J. Pierzynski also homered for the Twins, who won their third in a row.

Montreal 5, Kansas City 4--Wil Cordero’s pinch-hit single with two out in the seventh inning scored Orlando Cabrera, who had tied the score with a two-run double, and capped a decisive three-run rally for the Expos at Montreal.

Detroit 6, Atlanta 0--Jeff Weaver (5-8) pitched a five-hitter at Atlanta and improved his interleague record to 8-1. He retired 17 of the last 18 hitters, striking out seven.

Oakland 4, Pittsburgh 2--Mark Mulder won his fifth consecutive start to give the visiting Athletics their 10th victory in 11 games in the first meeting between the 115-year-old Pirates and the 101-year-old Athletics.

Chicago Cubs 4, Texas 3--Alex Gonzalez led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a homer against John Rocker in the first major league game featuring four players with 400 home runs.

Texas’ Rafael Palmeiro hit a homer for No. 460. Other 400-homer-club members in the game were Chicago’s Sammy Sosa (475) and Fred McGriff (459), and the Rangers’ Juan Gonzalez (401).

Chicago White Sox 6, Philadelphia 3--Kenny Lofton’s two-run triple in the 12th inning scored Carlos Lee and Jose Valentin at Philadelphia. Lofton then scored on an error.

Boston 4, San Diego 2--Shea Hillenbrand hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning against Brian Lawrence (7-4) at San Diego. Trot Nixon and Nomar Garciaparra had singled to open the inning.