(Sports Network) - Ken Griffey Jr. may not be hitting home runs lately, but his team has been winning ball games.
Griffey takes another crack at moving towards the coveted 600-home run plateau when the resurgent Cincinnati Reds continue a three-game home series with the Atlanta Braves today at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds needed extra frames to record their fifth victory in seven games, a 3-2 triumph over the Braves that was decided when rookie Jay Bruce scored from second base on a fielding error by Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones in the 11th inning.
Griffey did not homer on the evening but had a hand in the win, as the perennial All-Star followed Bruce's leadoff single in Cincinnati's half of the 11th with an infield hit. He remains two home runs shy of becoming just the sixth player in major league history to hit 600 for his career.
Bruce went 4-for-5 with an RBI and scored twice and is batting .571 (8-for-14) with five runs scored in four games since being promoted from Triple-A Louisville earlier this week.
One-time Brave Kent Mercker recorded the win for the Reds by throwing a scoreless top of the 11th. Cincinnati starter Edinson Volquez worked the first six innings and allowed two runs while striking out seven Atlanta hitters.
Tom Glavine matched Volquez by also surrendering just two runs over six frames, with the veteran lefty giving up five hits and fanning five.
Jones went 0-for-5 at the plate in addition to his costly error, but the star slugger is still batting a major league-best .409 on the season.
Today's matchup features the return of Josh Fogg to the Cincinnati rotation following a lengthy banishment to the bullpen. The crafty veteran was removed from a starting role in mid-April, shortly after he was battered for nine runs and seven hits in just two-plus innings during a lopsided loss at Chicago.
Fogg will get another opportunity after the Reds banished Matt Belisle to Triple-A Louisville on Thursday following a series of poor starts. Belisle went just 1-4 and amassed a subpar 7.28 earned run average over six turns in the rotation.
The 31-year-old Fogg has pitched better since moving to the relief corps, but he had one of his worst outings out of the pen against the Braves back on May 4. In that game Fogg surrendered five runs and six hits during a 2 2/3 inning stint.
The right-hander has also faced Atlanta five times previously as a starter and is 1-2 with a 5.13 ERA against the Braves for his career.
Cincinnati will get its first-ever look at Atlanta rookie Jair Jurrjens, who has impressed so far during his first season with the Braves. The Curacao native, acquired from Detroit as part of the offseason trade that sent shortstop Edgar Renteria to the Tigers, has compiled a 5-3 record and an excellent 2.86 ERA through 11 starts this year, while allowing just two home runs over 66 total innings.
Jurrjens did struggle in Monday's start against Arizona, however, partly because of the development of two blisters on his right thumb that forced the 22-year-old to exit after just 4 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs and eight hits and wound up with a no-decision in a 7-3 Atlanta victory.
The Braves, who have lost three of four tests thus far on a six-game road trip, won all three meetings with Cincinnati in Atlanta earlier this month. However, the Reds took six of the seven matchups between these teams last season.
Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Kurt Suzuki had a pinch-hit, game-winning double in the ninth to lead the Oakland Athletics in a 3-2 victor... Full Story...
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