Griffey Stuck at 498; Indians Win

Pinch-hitter Lou Merloni drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning, and the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night at Cleveland.

Merloni’s game-winning walk came on a night 27,308 were hoping to see Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run or two. However, he remained stuck at 498 career homers.

Casey Blake singled with two out in the 11th and took second on a wild pitch. Travis Hafner and Ronnie Belliard walked to load the bases for Merloni, who worked the count to 3-2 against Phil Norton (0-1) before taking ball four.

Griffey went three for five with two doubles, the first of which off C.C. Sabathia nearly went for homer No. 499. In the lineup as the designated hitter, Griffey came within inches of his 18th homer in the fifth, driving a double to left that struck the padding just below the yellow line.

St. Louis 12, Texas 7 -- Albert Pujols returned from a hamstring injury and drove in a run, and John Mabry homered and had five RBIs for the Cardinals at Arlington, Texas. The Cardinals have a major league-best 22-11 record on the road.

Pujols, the designated hitter, had been out of the lineup since straining his left hamstring running the bases Sunday against Houston. He had one hit in five at-bats.

Kansas City 7, New York Mets 5 -- The Royals made sure Darrell May (3-8) didn’t become the major leagues’ first nine-game loser by beating the slumping Mets at Kansas City, Mo. In their first appearance in Kauffman Stadium, the Mets lost their fourth in a row and their sixth in seven games.

Tampa Bay 8, Colorado 7 -- Rey Sanchez hit an inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Devil Rays, who are 14-6 in their last 20 games -- the best stretch in club history. Sanchez hit a liner to right off Shawn Chacon (0-3) that went all the way to the wall after Jeromy Burnitz missed a shoestring catch attempt.

Philadelphia 9, Minnesota 6 -- Ricky Ledee’s three-run homer, his second of the night, capped a five-run ninth inning at Minneapolis and helped end the Twins’ four-game winning streak. Lew Ford’s two-run homer in the seventh for the Twins tied it at 6-6, but Jim Thome gave the Phillies the lead back with a two-run double in the ninth.

Atlanta 6, Chicago White Sox 4 -- Jaret Wright (5-5) pitched two-hit ball for seven scoreless innings and Eli Marrero hit a three-run double to lead the Braves at Chicago.

The White Sox rallied for four runs against John Smoltz in the ninth on Carlos Lee’s RBI double and Jose Valentin’s three-run homer. But Smoltz struck out pinch-hitter Timo Perez with a runner on to end it.

Arizona 3, Toronto 2 -- Danny Bautista hit a go-ahead single in the top of the ninth inning for the Diamondbacks. With the score 2-0, Chad Tracy doubled off rookie reliever Jason Frasor (2-2) and scored on Alex Cintron’s double. With one out, pinch-hitter Tim Olson singled to center to tie the score. One out later, Terry Adams walked Steve Finley before Bautista singled to center.

Oakland 6, Pittsburgh 1 -- Tim Hudson (7-2) gave up five hits and one run in seven innings at Oakland to lead the A’s to their season-high sixth consecutive victory and help hand the Pirates their sixth consecutive defeat.

Seattle 1, Montreal 0 -- The Mariners ended a 29-inning scoreless drought when Pat Borders’ bases-loaded single with two out in the bottom of the ninth gave them the victory. Borders singled to left on a 1-1 pitch from Livan Hernandez (3-6), scoring Hiram Bocachica.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Milwaukee 9, Houston 3 --Scott Podsednik hit a three-run homer and an RBI double to lead the Brewers at Milwaukee. The Astros’ Jeff Kent doubled to extend his hitting streak to 25 games -- tying Carlos Lee of the White Sox for the longest in the majors this season.

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The Twins signed Crespi High shortstop Trevor Plouffe, one of their three first-round draft picks. Plouffe, who also pitched for the Celts, batted .509 with six homers, 20 RBIs, 23 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. The 20th overall pick, he will report to the Twins’ Rookie League team in Elizabethton, Tenn.