Griffey Hurt Again

[BuckFoston]

Until Wednesday night, Ken Griffey Jr. had enjoyed an injury-free season.

The Reds right fielder suffered a lower abdominal strain fielding Derrek Lee's single in the eighth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Cubs. Griffey will fly back to Cincinnati to be examined by team medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek.

"You hope it's not as bad as it feels," Griffey said. "We'll find out tomorrow."

Griffey had committed a fielding error when the ball went off his glove during Ryan Theriot's single in a 2-2 game in the eighth. Next was Lee, who lined a single to right field.

Griffey awkwardly played the ball on the bounce and doubled over as he was about to throw.

"It probably [happened] when I bent down and had a little change in direction," Griffey said. "It's just one of those things."

Griffey managed an underhanded throw to the infield before collapsing to the grass as Theriot surprisingly held up at third base.

"I didn't see him hold up," Griffey said. "To tell you the truth, I knew I threw it, but that's about it."

Trainers looked over the 37-year-old Griffey, who laid on his back for several moments, before walking him off the field. Buck Coats took over in right field. Theriot scored on the next play to put Chicago ahead.

Griffey is batting .277 with 30 home runs and 93 RBIs this season. His 144 games played were the most he's had since playing 145 games for Cincinnati in 2000.

Making the injury a little more unfortunate was that on Thursday at San Francisco, Griffey was scheduled to get his first day off since Aug. 28, when he didn't start the second game of a doubleheader.

"We don't how good or bad it is. We'll get him checked out," interim manager Pete Mackanin said.

Griffey, who was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a double play Wednesday, showed some fatigue in recent games. He is batting .214 (15-for-70) in September with his only homer of the month, No. 593 for his career, coming on Sept. 7.

"It's been a little sore," Griffey said of his abdominal muscle. "It's a situation where games don't mean anything for us. You have to go out there and finish strong and hopefully make it tough for other teams. I knew I wasn't going to play much over the next week until Chicago came back [to Cincinnati next week]. It was just one play."

It's the second time in two years that Griffey has left the Wrigley Field outfield injured. In April of last season, he strained a right knee tendon.

Reds left fielder Adam Dunn was critical of the playing surface after Wednesday's game, which had several brown spots and ruts. Dunn inferred that it could have played a part in Griffey's injury.

"That outfield is dangerous," Dunn said. "I'm surprised more people don't get injured out there. It's worse than playing in a parking lot. It looks like they had a monster truck rally. It's terrible. There are potholes. It's bad. It's unsafe."

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This is terrible to see this guy go down yet once again. If Griffey would have stayed healthy he would be the greatest baseball player of all time. Its to bad that he can't finish this season off...I love griffey with a passion and I hope this won't effect his groin every time he plays a baseball game.

[Mr. D™]