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Griffey belts two homers to lift Reds over Rangers

Jun 17, 2007 - 4:12 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Ken Griffey Jr. hit two home runs and drove in three runs to lead the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

With much of the focus on Sammy Sosa's bid to hit his 600th homer for Texas, Griffey stole the spotlight by hitting a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run shot in the third.

David Ross contributed two home runs - his eighth and ninth - and four RBI as the Reds snapped a three-game losing streak.

"It felt good it's nice to win," Ross said. "Griff's a future Hall of Famer. You could tell in batting practice that he was locked in."

As the words left Ross's lips, Griffey, who dresses in the next stall, turned to a pair of reporters and said, "See ya."

Griffey now has 581 career home runs and is two behind Mark McGwire for seventh on the all-time list. He lined to Sosa on the warning track in right field in his other two at-bats.

"Junior's swinging the bat really well. He just missed four tonight," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said. "He's still one of the best hitters in baseball. You know he's going to have a good at-bat every time."

Cincinnati's Adam Dunn, who is on his way to become the 11th player to hit 300 or more by his 30th birthday, followed Griffey's first inning homer with his 17th. It was the seventh set of back-to-back home runs by the Reds this season.

It was the 33rd time the duo hit home runs in the same game. Griffey has 18 homers on the season and hit multiple home runs in a game for the 54th time in his career.

"Griffey can still swing the bat," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He hit two that were down. One darn near hit the ground. Then he nearly hit a third."

Reds starter Aaron Harang (7-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win. He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits. He started with four scoreless innings and struck out Sosa with the bases loaded to end the fifth, after the Rangers scored an unearned run.

Harang gave no thought to being Sosa's victim of number 600.

"I never thought of it. In any situation where the number four hitter is up you try to bear down," Harang said. "Especially with runners on base. He's going to hit it off somebody but I'm just trying to get him to hit my pitch.

"I wasn't as sharp as I usually am. It's good to see Junior staying locked in and Ross had a couple of shots. That's nice to see. I'm just happy we came out with a victory."

On Friday night, Sosa hit a grand slam to put him on the brink of becoming the fifth player to reach 600 home runs. Sosa was 0-for-4.

The Rangers got within 4-3 when Travis Metcalf chased Harang with a two-run double in the sixth. Mike Stanton took over and then batted for the second time this season and grounded to short. He left the game with a strained left hamstring.

Ross responded with a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning off reliever Frank Francisco to restore the lead to 7-3. Ross added his ninth in off Willie Eyre in the eighth.

Rangers starter Jamey Wright lasted five innings and allowed four runs on nine hits. He struck out one and walked.

Wright (0-1) was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list on Saturday to make his first start since April 10. He went on the 15-day disabled list three days later and transferred to the 60-day on June 9 retroactive to April 10.

"The two pitches to him weren't that bad," Wright said "They were sinkers down but still where he likes it. The pitch to Dunn was a cutter that didn't do anything.

"I feel like I was fighting myself to get a rhythm and trying to get comfortable but my shoulder is fine. I felt like I was getting stronger as I went. I just need more work on some pitches."

Reds rookie Brad Salmon pitched a scoreless seventh but the Rangers scored a run in the eighth. Fellow rookie Jon Coutlangus got the last out of the inning.