AP News, July 27th, 2007
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 588th homer Thursday, and the Cincinnati Reds rallied against All-Star closer Francisco Cordero for a 6-5, 10-inning victory that extended the Milwaukee Brewers' woes.
After Scott Hatteberg's single off Cordero (0-3) tied it in the ninth, and Javier Valentin's single in the 10th gave the Reds three victories in their four-game series against the fading NL Central leaders.
Jared Burton (2-1) got the victory, which came after the NL's worst bullpen blew a lead of its own.
Milwaukee came to town hoping for a turnaround against a last-place team. The Brewers traded three pitching prospects for setup man Scott Linebrink on Wednesday _ he'll join the team for a weekend series in St. Louis _ in a move that showed their determination to hold onto first place.
Instead, they left town with a sinking feeling.
Since they opened an 8 1/2-game lead on June 23, the Brewers have gone 13-15 and let the Cubs get back into the race. Their lineup has been the main problem, hitting an NL-low .225 since the All-Star break.
This loss came from an unlikely source. For only the fourth time this season, Cordero let the Brewers down in a save situation.
Cordero came on with a 5-4 lead in the ninth and gave up a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Norris Hopper. Hatteberg followed with a tying single to center.
It was only the fourth time in 36 tries that Cordero has failed to come through. All four of his blown saves have come on the road: back-to-back in Texas on June 9-10, and at Wrigley Field on June 29.
Adam Dunn led off the 10th with a double off Cordero, then came around on Edwin Encarnacion's single and Valentin's line-drive hit to right field _ his second game-ending hit of the series.
The Brewers' slumping offense had a chance to put it away, before their usually reliable bullpen let them down.
Rookie Ryan Braun had three hits, including a solo homer and a run-scoring single, but also hit into a pair of double plays, one of them with the bases loaded. Tony Graffanino also had a solo homer.
Griffey broke out of his slump with three hits _ a single, a run-scoring double and a solo homer off Dave Bush. Griffey is sixth on the career list, trailing Sammy Sosa at 603.
The three-hit game pulled Griffey out of a 2-for-28 slump.
Jeff Keppinger, who broke open Cincinnati's 7-3 win on Wednesday night with a three-run double, singled with the bases loaded to drive in two more on Thursday for a 4-2 lead that the bullpen couldn't hold.
Graffanino tied it with his solo homer in the seventh off Kirk Saarloos, who has allowed the last 10 batters he faced to reach safely _ eight hits, a walk and a hit batter. Corey Hart's RBI single off Todd Coffey gave the Brewers a 5-4 lead in the eighth.
Notes:@ Bush is 0-2 in four starts at Great American Ball Park, giving up 21 runs in only 17 1-3 innings. He gave up four runs in 5 1-3 innings Thursday. ... Dunn extended his hitting streak to 12 games, matching his career high. ... Reds LH Eddie Guardado will pitch for Triple-A Louisville on Saturday, starting his second rehab assignment. Guardado, who is recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery last September, had to stop pitching in the minors last month when his forearm got sore.
