You gotta give The Kid points for style. After nearly a month on the DL, Ken Griffey, Jr. returned to the Reds last night with a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th.
Unfortunately, the Nationals were the unlucky victims of Griffey’s 539th career home run. With Alfonso Soriano mired in an 11-for-58 slump and on the bench, the Nats scored three in the 11th to pull ahead 4-1. Three relievers tried and failed to hold that three-run lead, but Joey Eischen and his 10.45 ERA took the loss. The Nats saw great efforts by Zach Day and Chad Cordero go to waste. The team heads to Atlanta this weekend with a 12-23 record and a two-game losing streak in tow.
Against the Braves, the Nats will have their work cut out for them. They go up against the Braves’ ace John Smoltz tonight. Facing Smoltz will be Ramon Ortiz, and it’s always an adventure with Ortiz on the mound. Staked to a 4-run lead against the lowly Pirates last Saturday, Ortiz gave it all back. He’ll face an Atlanta team that banged out 18 hits and 9 runs against Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins last night.
AP Photo by Al Behrman.
