Griffey Has the Power Reds Need

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 491st homer and Austin Kearns hit a three-run shot in the eighth inning to give the Cincinnati Reds a 7-5 victory Monday and a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros at Cincinnati.

Kearns’ tiebreaking homer off Brad Lidge (0-3) helped push Cincinnati a half-game ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central lead. A club that had lost 93 games last season now has the league’s best record.

Griffey hit his second homer in two games, a solo shot that tied him with Fred McGriff for 21st place on the career list.

Sean Casey, who also homered for the second consecutive game, had two hits, raising the NL’s top batting average to .386.

Atlanta 5, Montreal 0 -- Andruw Jones homered twice and John Thomson pitched the Braves to a win over the punchless Expos at Montreal.

Playing in front of only 4,675 fans, Montreal lost for the fifth consecutive time. The Expos (14-30) have been shut out eight times in 44 games.

Florida 13, Arizona 5 -- Juan Pierre drove in four runs, Ramon Castro broke a season-long slump with three runs batted in and the Marlins won easily at Miami. The victory was Jack McKeon’s 100th as Marlin manager, and it pulled Florida into a tie with Philadelphia atop the NL East.