Reds 16, M's 1 (and a priceless memory)

Ken Griffey Jr. never said what he expected upon his return to Seattle. Turns out he couldn't have expected what he got.

“It was more than I expected, a lot more than I expected,” Griffey said. “Awesome, if you had to put in one word. It was something – that many people for that long, cheering. It was pretty unbelievable.”

The only trick was keeping the eyes dry.

“I was pretty good,” he said. “I had to take a couple of deep breaths. I looked around and it was touching. But I didn’t want to start crying. I didn’t want to home and have my kids say, ‘Daddy, you were a punk.’ But it was real touching.”

Someone asked Griffey if he nervous before the first at-bat.

“The first at-bat was OK,” he said. “It was other four. The first at-bat when he threw over (to first), I settled down. The second at-bat I was trying to get the runners over. The last three I was trying to hit it as far as I could.”

He struck out swinging on all three of those.

As for the game: David Ross and Brandon Phillips each went deep twice. Josh Hamilton hit a solo shot. And Aaron Harang pitched eight innings of two-hit ball. The only run he allowed was unearned. He's 8-2 with 3.59 and should be getting All-Star consideration. He’s 3-0 with 1.85 ERA in his last six starts.

“It would be outstanding,” Narron said. “He’s definitely deserving, not only for what he’s done this year, but for what he did last year. It would be good to see him make it.”