Mackanin on the Junior play

Pete Mackanin was surprised as anyone that Ken Griffey Jr. got thrown out at second on his blooper that fell into left field Saturday night.

"I was like what happened?" Mackanin said.

Griffey was not running hard to first. When he saw the ball drop, he broke for second and was out easily. The play fizzled a rally. Rather than second and third, not outs. It was man on tihrd, one out.

"He knows he screwed up," Mackanin said. "It's nothing to be ashamed about. It happened."

How Mackanin handles Griffey is key to his future as Reds manager. Griffey has played hard under Mackanin. He's broke up a couple of double plays with hard slides. He's stolen three bases.

In this situation, Mackanin didn't feel anything needed to be said.

"He is probably as embarrassed as you can get. He knows he made a mistake. I don’t think I ever need to embellish on that. You could see it in his face. He was embarrassed. Those things happen. Unfortunately, it didn't help at that point in time.

“But Junior has helped win and is going to help us win games. Nobody’s going to through a season without making some kind of mistake. Call it a brain cramp."