Griffey Expected Back

The Cincinnati Reds expect Ken Griffey Jr. to play again this season after the star center fielder strained his right foot rounding second base.

Griffey has been listed as day to day since Sunday, when he rolled his foot during the 12th inning of Cincinnati’s 8-3 win at Atlanta.

Trainer Mark Mann said it would be “premature at this point” to say surgery would be necessary, and “we fully expect him to play again in the 2005 season.”

Griffey is batting .301 with 35 home runs and 92 runs batted in in 128 games, the most since he played in 145 games in 2000.

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A four-game suspension of St. Louis Cardinal pitching coach Dave Duncan for his part in a scuffle with Pirate hitting coach Gerald Perry was cut in half -- for now. Major League Baseball said a decision on the other two games would be made after the Cardinal-Pirate series Monday through Wednesday.