Ken Griffey Jr. intends to play again this season, despite suffering a partial tear high on his left hamstring that will sideline him for five to seven days.

        The Reds center fielder on Tuesday said it didn't matter if the Reds were mathematically eliminated from contention in the National League Central Division by the time he was ready to return.

        “I'll come back regardless,” said Griffey, who injured himself while attempting to score from first base on Dmitri Young's seventh-inning field. “If that (taking the rest of the season off) is the case, they might as well send me home. It doesn't matter if we're eliminated or not. This is what I love to do ... I don't have another job; I don't have a business. I play baseball and take care of my family.”

        Griffey pointed out that even if first-place St. Louis clinches the division before the Reds and Cardinals play their season-ending three-game series, “we can still make it interesting for the playoffs.” The Cardinals still could be jockeying to finish with the league's best record, which would guarantee them home-field advantage through the division series and League Championship Series.

        Griffey still could play as many as 10 games if he heals on schedule.

        “It just depends on when I'm ready,” said Griffey, who rode a stationary bicycle for 10 minutes and received other treatment Tuesday. “If it takes longer, it takes longer. If it's shorter, it's shorter.”

        Griffey, 30, is hitting a season-high .269 with 39 homers, tied for fifth in the NL entering Tuesday, and 117 RBI, tied for fourth. He needs one more homer to become the fourth player to hit 40 or more in seven or more seasons. The others are Babe Ruth (11), Henry Aaron (eight) and Harmon Killebrew (eight). Reaching 40 homers also would make Griffey the fourth player to hit that many in five consecutive seasons, joining Ruth, Ralph Kiner and Duke Snider.

        WITHOUT JUNIOR: Griffey's absence will allow manager Jack McKeon to use Michael Tucker and Alex Ochoa in the starting lineup more frequently. Since Dante Bichette's trade to Boston on Aug.31, McKeon had been platooning Tucker and Ochoa in right field.

        Tucker replaced Griffey in center field Tuesday, receiving his fourth start of the season in that spot, while Ochoa played right.

        McKeon said Brian Hunter also could receive some playing time in center. But, McKeon added, “Right now I'm going with Tucker.”

        First baseman Sean Casey moved into Griffey's No.3 spot in the batting order for only the third time this year. Casey hit .338 from the No.3 spot last season (.332 overall).

        RIEDLING'S EFFECT: On Aug.28, John Riedling joined the Reds from Triple-A Louisville. One day later, McKeon announced that he would try to use closer Danny Graves only in the ninth inning.

        The combination has worked.

        Riedling's effectiveness, demonstrated by the one earned run he has allowed in 7 2/3 innings, has helped Cincinnati's bullpen set up Graves more easily. Since McKeon's announcement, Graves has converted all six of his save opportunities while yielding only one run in seven appearances.

        “Riedling's made the difference,” McKeon said.

        “You wonder, if he was here the whole year, whether he could have helped us,” Graves said. “He has frickin' nasty stuff. When he came up, he showed right away that he had the stuff to get people out. I think he has the perfect mentality for a short reliever.”

        Pitching one inning also has helped, Graves said: “When you come in for more than an inning, it seems like you're trying more to hit your spots and do different things. But when you're in there for one inning it seems like I've been more aggressive.”

        Eavesdropping from an adjacent locker, Pete Harnisch couldn't let this comment pass. “So, in other words, it's a lot harder to pitch more than one inning, like Sully (Scott Sullivan) and I do,” Harnisch said, teasingly.

        ETC: Though McKeon did not intend to use Sullivan in Tuesday night's game, the right-hander needed just four more innings to reach 100 for the third consecutive year. “He'll get it,” said McKeon, who rarely passes up a chance to insert Sullivan. “We'll make sure of that.”

        • Catcher Eddie Taubensee visited the clubhouse for the first time since undergoing surgery last Friday to remove part of a ruptured disk in his back. “I can tell already that some of the pinching and discomfort I had is really not there,” said Taubensee, who faces three months of rehabilitation.

        UP NEXT: Scott Williamson was scratched from his scheduled start in tonight's series finale after breaking the second and third toes on his right foot when a door shut on him Monday night.

        Rob Bell (6-7), removed from the rotation Sunday, will replace Williamson to face Cubs right-hander Jamie Arnold (0-2). “He said he wanted to be the go-to guy, so he's the guy we'll go to,” McKeon said.

        Dr. Tim Kremchek, the Reds' team physician, said Williamson's toes have been taped together, adding that it will be determined Friday when or whether the right-hander will pitch again.

Cubs 2, Reds 1 Box, runs Griffey Jr.: I'll return this season

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