ST. LOUIS - All the news was good on the injury front, for once. Barry Larkin and Aaron Boone each took ground balls and hit in soft toss sessions.

        “I'm encouraged,” said Larkin, who is on the disabled list with a strained groin. “I didn't feel anything. I would have been discouraged if I did.”

        Boone, on the disabled list after having surgery to remove a broken hamate bone from his right hand, struggled a little in the hitting session.

        “When I reach down for a pitch, I get a sharp pain,” he said. “The strength's not really there. But it's getting better.”

        His father, Reds manager Bob, sees Aaron's progress.

        “He's getting close to taking B.P.,” Bob said. “Once he does, it comes fairly quickly.”

        First baseman Sean Casey, who had not started since straining his back Monday against the Chicago Cubs, started Friday night.

        “It's feeling better and better,” Casey said. “I still feel (pain). But it's not enough to keep me from playing.”

        JUNIOR UPDATE: Ken Griffey Jr. did not make the trip to St. Louis. That does not mean he won't join the team somewhere on the 14-day, 12-game trip.

        “There's a chance,” Boone said. “It's just so much easier for him to rehab in Cincinnati.”

        Boone would not put a timetable on Griffey's return.

        “He's a lot better,” Boone said. “But it's impossible to tell. ... . . It's ultimately on him to tell us, "I don't feel any (pain).'”

        UP NEXT: Right-hander Brian Reith (0-2, 3.38 ERA) faces fellow right-hander Matt Morris (7-3, 2.47) in a 1:15 p.m. game today.

        The game will be on Fox (Channel 19) as part of the network's opening week.

Reds 5, Cards 1 Who's on third? Why, it's Dmitri Larkin, Boone making progress Reds box, runs

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