Barry Larkin claps as Ken Griffey Jr. is introduced before the game. (Craig Ruttle photo) SET AS WALLPAPER: Click here for bigger image, then right click to Set As Wallpaper

        Welcome home, Junior. Take a bow and grab a towel.

        Ken Griffey Jr. made his long-awaited return to his hometown Monday and it was just like he'd never left ... Seattle.

        Cincinnati got unrelenting rain Monday and the first opening day tie in 35 years. The Reds blew a three-run lead and wound up tied with the Milwaukee Brewers 3-3 in the sixth inning when the tarp was summoned.

        The city's notoriously fickle opening day weather broke just long enough for Junior to get a 20-second pregame ovation, go 0-for-2 and see his father shed a tear over his long-awaited return.

        “It was awesome,” Junior said, wearing a team warmup jacket and his cap turned backwards in his trademark style. “It was something I wasn't expecting. It was fun.

        “The biggest thing is it reminded me of my first opening day 12 years ago.”

Junior pops up in his first at-bat. (Craig Ruttle photo)

        Seattle had a dome as insurance against its many days like this. In Cincinnati, the largest regular-season crowd in stadium history could do nothing but break out the parkas, peak through the umbrellas and wait.

        Home plate umpire Randy Marsh waited three hours before finally calling the game, which will be replayed from the first inning on Tuesday night.

        All statistics from Monday's game count, leaving Davey Lopes with an unusual debut as Brewers manager. It was the first time in the majors that teams opened with a tie since April 12, 1965, when the St. Louis-Chicago game at Wrigley Field was called because of darkness after 11 innings with the score 10-10.

        “I didn't think Mother Nature would enter into the equation, but she did, unfortunately,” Lopes said.

        She stepped back just long enough for Junior and the city to say hello. The 55,596 fans gave Junior the loudest and longest pregame ovation before the rain came into play.

        Wearing long red sleeves and a batting glove on his right hand only, Junior bounced out of the dugout when his name was called fourth, took his rightful place along the first baseline and waved his cap in all directions.

        He was taken aback.

        “I just didn't know what to expect,” he said. “I knew there would be noise. I didn't figure it would be that loud, that long.”

        Neither did his father, who was in the dugout.

        “It was just great to have him home,” said Ken Sr., the club's bench coach. “My emotions were mixed. The ovation was great. I didn't know how I was going to handle it. I had a little tear in my eye.”

        It was perfect ... almost. His mother, Birdie, was waiting for the stadium elevator at that moment.

        “I missed it,” she said. “Don't worry, the elevator operator heard about it.”

        Minutes later, dozens of flashbulbs went off when Junior ran out center field to start the game, prompting him to wave his black-and-red cap again.

        It was downhill from there.

        Griffey couldn't get the ball out of the infield in his two at-bats. He nervously popped out in the first and grounded out in the third.

        “I was just trying to pick out and good pitch and I swung at some pretty bad ones,” he said.

        Had the game continued, Griffey would have been first up for the Reds' in the sixth. He was scanning the Brewers' list of pitchers, trying to figure out which one he'd face, during the rain delay.

        He had homered in three consecutive openers and was tied with Babe Ruth and five others at second place on the career list, one behind Frank Robinson. The streak ended Monday.

        “Of course, it would have been nice to see him hit one out and see what kind of reception he would have received,” manager Jack McKeon said. “But it won't be long. We'll see soon enough.”

        It was the first time the Reds had failed to complete an opener since umpire John McSherry collapsed and died in the first inning in 1996, forcing a postponement.

        By the time this one was called, the players were as soaked as the “WELCOME TO JUNIORVILLE” banner clinging to the right-field stands. One player after another slipped on the wet turf, throws became an adventure with the slick balls and muted fans kept hoping for one more Junior at-bat that never came.

        The Reds got ahead quickly against Steve Woodard, who nervously rolled his shoulders between pitches in the first inning of his first opening day start. Pokey Reese led off with a four-pitch walk and scored on Barry Larkin's double. Dmitri Young's single made it 2-0.

        Michael Tucker's solo homer brought fireworks and the last big ovation of the day in the second inning. The lead, like the base runners, was soon slip-sliding away.

        Right fielder Dante Bichette figured in the Brewers' comeback. He threw out Kevin Barker as he tried to go from first to third in the second inning, then misplayed Geoff Jenkins' single in the third, letting in an unearned run that made it 3-2.

        The game slogged along with the grounds crew spreading a water-absorbing compound on the sliding pits and the mound each half-inning. By the fourth, it was apparent that the team ahead after five innings could be the winner.

        The Brewers had that chance and blew it. They loaded the bases to open the fourth against Pete Harnisch, but managed to get only the tying run.

        With no break from the rain in sight, Marsh called for the tarp in the top of the sixth, one out and Brewers on first and second.

        Two fans ran onto the field during the break and slid on the tarp, another ran on and temporarily hit in the cylinder that the grounds crew rolls the tarp on. All three were handcuffed.

        Notes: The Brewers and Reds had never opened the season before. Cincinnati opened against the Milwaukee Braves three times, going 1-2. The only Reds win came in 1954 behind left-hander Joe Nuxhall, now a Reds announcer. ... Lopes got into his first argument as manager in the second inning, when Bichette threw out Barker on a close play at third. Lopes stood and waved his arms in front of third base umpire Ron Kulpa, one of those promoted to the NL staff last August. ... Scott Sullivan's wife gave birth to the couple's second child at 8:32 a.m. Monday. The Reds reliever was pitching when the game was called.

MILWAUKEE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Grissom cf              3  1  2  1   0  0   0  .667
Loretta ss              3  0  0  1   0  1   3  .000
J Burnitz rf            2  1  1  0   1  0   3  .500
Jenkins lf              3  0  1  0   0  0   1  .333
Jo Hernandez 3b         3  0  0  0   0  0   1  .000
K Barker 1b             2  0  1  0   1  0   0  .500
Ro Belliard 2b          2  1  2  0   1  0   0 1.000
Blanco c                1  0  0  0   2  0   2  .000
Woodard p               3  0  0  0   0  0   5  .000

Totals                 22  3  7  2   5  1  15

BATTING: 2B - Ro Belliard (1, P Harnisch). RBI - Loretta (1),
Grissom (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Burnitz 2.  
Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: SB - Grissom (1, 2nd base off P Harnisch/Taubensee). 

FIELDING: Outfield assists - Jenkins (B Larkin at 2nd base). 

CINCINNATI             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Reese 2b                2  1  1  0   1  1   0  .500
B Larkin ss             3  1  2  1   0  0   1  .667
Griffey Jr cf           2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .000
Bichette rf             2  0  0  0   0  2   1  .000
D Young 1b              2  0  1  1   0  0   0  .500
Taubensee c             2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .000
A Boone 3b              2  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
Tucker lf               2  1  1  1   0  0   0  .500
P Harnisch p            1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 Sullivan p             1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .000

Totals                 19  3  5  3   1  4   4

BATTING: 2B - B Larkin (1, Woodard). HR - Tucker (1, 2nd inning
off Woodard 0 on, 1 out). RBI - B Larkin (1), D Young (1),
Tucker (1). 2-out RBI - D Young.  Team LOB - 2.

FIELDING: E - Taubensee (1, throw); Bichette (1, bobble).
Outfield assists - Bichette (K Barker at 3rd base). 

--------------------------------------------------
    Milwaukee      - 002 10  --  3
    Cincinnati     - 210 00  --  3

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MILWAUKEE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Woodard                       5       5   3   3   1   4   1   5.40

CINCINNATI                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
P Harnisch                    4       7   3   2   3   1   0   4.50
Sullivan                      1 1/3   0   0   0   2   0   0   0.00

Pitches-strikes: P Harnisch 80-45; Sullivan 21-12; Woodard 68-44. 
Ground balls-fly balls: P Harnisch 6-4; Sullivan 1-3; Woodard
4-6.  Batters faced: P Harnisch 21; Sullivan 6; Woodard 20. 

UMPIRES: HP--Randy Marsh. 1B--Angel Hernandez. 2B--Marty Foster.
3B--Ron Kulpa.
T--1:51. Att: 55,596.  Weather: 65 degrees, overcast.   Wind: 3 mph, 
right to left.

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