Griffey, Reds Slam Rockies

Start the count to 500.

One day after becoming the youngest player to hit 400 home runs, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 13th career grand slam to lead the Cincinnati Reds over the Colorado Rockies 10-3 Tuesday night.

Griffey, who has homered in three straight games, was 2-for-4 with five RBIs. He celebrated the slam with an elbow-rubbing routine with his teammates but described the 466-foot homer as if it were an accident.

"Just trying to get the ball in the outfield and somewhere in the air," Griffey said. "I wasn't thinking about hitting a grand slam. I'm just trying to get a guy in and a guy over in that situation. I happened to hit the ball out."

"I don't think he left any doubt about that one," Reds manager Jack McKeon said.

Dmitri Young added four hits, including a three-run homer for the Reds, who have at least one home run in each of their first nine games. That was plenty for Ron Villone (2-0) as the left-hander held the Rockies to two runs and four hits in seven innings.

"I'll take it any way it comes here," Villone said. "Any time you get rus on the board, it's a little confidence-builder. Just go out there and throw it. Keep throwing, letting it go."

Young's homer off Brian Bohanon (0-1) helped the Reds build a 5-2 lead after three innings, and Griffey broke the game open after singles by D.T. Cromer, Chris Stynes and Barry Larkin.

Bohanon gave way to former Reds reliever Gabe White, but Griffey foiled the strategy when he hit an 0-1 pitch into the second deck beyond right-center field.

"I hit it, and I can't control where it goes after that," Griffey said. "Try to hit it hard somewhere and whatever happens happens."

Like most hitters, Griffey has taken a liking to Coors Field, where he is 10-for-26 with five homers and 15 RBIs.

"I don't think the park has anything to do with it," White said. "I don't think it matters where he hits. He hits home runs everywhere, so I don't think coming here benefits him at all."

Staked to a five-run lead, Villone's only trouble came in the third when Brian Hunter and Mike Lansing executed a double steal and Hunter scored when Larkin couldn't handle the throw to second. Larry Walker, 3-for-4 with two RBIs, followed with a run-scoring single that cut the lead to 5-2.

"Sometimes you just don't get the pitching, and we'll (run)," Rockies manager Buddy Bell said. "We're not going to shut it down because of the score. ... What's going to make us successful is better pitching, better defense."

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