By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Ken Griffey Jr. carpool was responsible for five home runs in the Reds' 11-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday.

Griffey, the driver, hit three, including a grand slam, in three trips to the plate.

Jason LaRue, the front-seat passenger, hit two in three at-bats.

The two back-seat riders, Chad Bowden and Xander Maddox, were shut out. But then again, they're the 9-year-old sons of general manager Jim Bowden and his assistant, Leland Maddux.

"They're going to have me driving the bus next," Griffey said. "Just make sure Carl (Lindner) buys a Mercedes bus."

The Reds probably won't do that, but Griffey reminded everyone Friday that, when healthy, he can carry a team like a bus.

"It's spring training," he said. "I'm just trying to hit the ball hard. I would have been just as happy if they were ground balls if I hit them hard."

Griffey's shots had some major elevation and all were bolts - two to center, one to right. It was a good 1,200 feet of home runs.

Not bad for five innings' work.

"It's my mom's birthday," he said. "It's nice to give Mom a present."

Griffey's mother, Birdie, is in Florida, but she was not at the game.

"Not when her soaps are on," Griffey said. "She's not going to miss them."

Griffey's happy, healthy and hitting. Friday's outburst pushed his average to .438. He has four homers and 11 RBI in seven games. His on-base percentage is .526.

Pokey Reese, former Red and Griffey ripper, watched Griffey from second base Friday and was impressed. "He said he's going to shut up and just play," Reese said. "If he shuts up and just plays, it's going to be a long season for some pitchers. He's looking good."

Griffey said the key has been batting practice.

"Last year, we did a lot of drills and didn't get that many swings in," he said. "This year, it's 20 minutes for each group. Last year, it was 10 minutes. When we stay back (from games), we get in an hour and a half of batting practice."

That's part of the change under new hitting coach Tom Robson. Last year's hitting coach, Jim Lefebvre, was big on drills.

"I've seen him staying through the ball since Day 1," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "When he does that and he has his legs, he's going to be what we expect him to be. No doubt."

The Reds expect Griffey to be one of the best players in the game. He has been that this spring so far.

Griffey has looked as good in center field as he has at the plate, and he isn't holding anything back.

Thursday against the Pirates, he laid down a bunt and tried to beat it out for a single.

"I haven't really run except in the outfield," he said. "I wanted to break hard out of the box."

That would indicate Griffey is confident in his legs.

His legs, of course, have been injured much of the last two seasons. Griffey has been limited to 181 games over the last two years by assorted leg injuries. That seems to be behind him.

"I feel great," he said.

Griffey has hit 468 home runs in real games and has two three-homer games in the regular season. So he was happy with his big day Friday, but he didn't make too much of it.

"I just picked the right game to go to," he said. "Sometimes it's better to pick the games."

That was in reference to the fact the wind was blowing out at McKechnie Field.

Griffey was being modest. All the wind did was make the home runs a little longer.

Reds 11-6, Pirates 5-1

The Reds won their sixth game in the past seven with the day-night sweep.

The bats: Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-3 - all home runs, including a grand slam. Jason LaRue hit two homers. William Bergolla, up from minor-league camp, went 2-for-4 with a double. In the second game, Aaron Boone hit his second home run of the spring. Corky Miller hit his first of the spring. Boone and Felipe Lopez each had two hits.

The arms: Seth Etherton pitched three shutout innings, striking out five in the first game. He struck out the side after allowing a leadoff double to Walter Young in the third. . . . Jose Rijo gave up three runs, allowing two home runs. . . . Gabe White gave up a pair of runs in the ninth.

Jimmy Anderson started the second game and became the first Reds pitcher to go five innings. He allowed no runs and only three hits.

The rest: Pokey Reese, the former Red, turned a beautiful double play, making a diving stab of a ball LaRue hit up the middle in the first game.

Up next: The Reds play Boston at Ed Smith Stadium at 6:05 p.m. today. Converted reliever Danny Graves makes his third start against Derek Lowe, who was converted from closer by Boston last season.

CINCINNATI (ss)					PITTSBURGH (ss)
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Larkin ss	4	1	1	0	Kendall c	3	0	2	0
Dransfeldt ss	1	1	1	0	Doumit c	1	0	1	0
LaRue c	3	3	2	3	Reese 2b	2	0	0	0
Hudson p	0	0	0	0	Castillo 2b	2	0	1	0
Watson p	0	0	0	0	Giles cf	2	0	0	0
Thomas ph	0	1	0	0	Corey p	0	0	0	0
White p	0	0	0	0	House ph	1	0	0	0
Griffey cf	3	3	3	6	Holtz p	0	0	0	0
Smithrmn lf	2	0	1	2	Beimel p	0	0	0	0
Kearns rf	4	0	0	0	Barnes ph	1	0	0	0
Encrncion 3b	1	0	1	0	KYoung 1b	3	1	1	1
Guillen lf-cf	5	0	1	0	Rivera 1b	1	0	0	0
Stenson 1b	3	0	0	0	Sanders lf	3	0	1	0
Cruz 1b	1	0	1	0	Alvarez pr-lf	2	1	0	0
Pena 3b-rf	4	0	0	0	Hyzdu rf	4	1	1	2
Bergolla 2b	4	2	2	0	Gulan 3b	4	0	1	0
Etherton p	1	0	0	0	Holbert ss	4	1	1	0
Rijo p	1	0	0	0	Benson p	0	0	0	0
Stfnski ph-c	1	0	0	0	WYoung ph	1	0	1	0
					Tavarez p	0	0	0	0
					Fernndz ph	1	0	0	0
					Redman cf	2	1	1	2
Totals	38	11	13	11	Totals	37	5	11	5

Cincinnati (ss)	103	040	102-11
Pittsburgh (ss)	000	102	002-5

E-KYoung. DP-Cincinnati 1, Pittsburgh 3. LOB-Cincinnati 3, Pittsburgh 9. 2B-WYoung, Bergolla, Doumit, Dransfeldt, Smitherman. HRs-Griffey Jr. 3 (4), LaRue 2 (3), KYoung (1), Hyzdu 1 (2), Redman (1). CS-Gulan.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Cincinnati
Etherton W, 1-0	3	2	0	0	1	5
Rijo	3	5	3	3	1	4
Hudson	1	1	0	0	0	1
Watson	1	0	0	0	0	2
White	1	3	2	2	1	3
Pittsburgh
Benson L, 0-1	3	5	4	4	0	2
Tavarez	2	3	4	3	1	1
Corey	2	1	1	1	1	2
Holtz	1	1	0	0	0	0
Beimel	1	3	2	2	1	0

HBP-by White (Doumit). WP-Hudson.

T-2:37. A-2,826.

PITTSBURGH (ss)					CINCINNATI (ss)
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Redman cf	4	0	1	0	Lopez ss	3	1	2	2
Wilson ss	4	0	0	0	Maxwell ss	1	0	0	0
Castillo ss	0	0	0	0	Boone 2b	3	2	2	1
Simon 1b	4	0	1	0	Miller c	1	1	1	1
Mahomes p	0	0	0	0	Dunn lf	2	0	0	0
Ramirez 3b	3	0	1	0	Arambles p	0	0	0	0
Fernandz 3b	1	0	0	0	Willlmsn p	0	0	0	0
Stairs rf	3	0	1	0	Casey 1b	3	0	1	1
Alvarez pr-rf	1	1	0	0	Crespo 1b	1	0	0	0
Wilson lf	3	0	1	0	Mateo rf	3	0	0	0
Cota c	3	0	0	0	Randall p	0	0	0	0
Doumit c	1	0	1	0	Blanco 3b	1	0	0	0
Nunez 2b	2	0	0	0	Taylor cf	4	0	0	0
Doster 2b	0	0	0	0	Guerrero	4	1	2	0
D'Amico p	1	0	0	0	Stinnett c	2	1	0	0
Reyes p	1	0	0	0	Dawkins 2b	1	0	0	0
Prieto p	0	0	0	0	Andersn p	1	0	0	0
Young ph	1	0	1	0	Brown rf	1	0	1	0
Mann p	0	0	0	0
Rivera 1b	1	0	0	0
Totals	33	1	7	0	Totals	31	6	9	5

Pittsburgh (ss)	000	000	100-1
Cincinnati (ss)	102	200	10x-6

E-Redman, Guerrero. DP-Cincinnati 2. LOB-Pittsburgh 8, Cincinnati 5. 2B-Ramirez, Lopez. 3B-Stairs. HR-Boone (1), Dunn (1). SB-Lopez (2), Brown (1). S-Anderson.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Pittsburgh
D'Amico L, 0-1	2 1-3	4	3	3	0	3
Reyes	2 2-3	3	2	2	2	1
Prieto	1	1	0	0	0	1
Mann	1	1	1	1	0	1
Mahomes	1	0	0	0	0	1
Cincinnati
Anderson W, 2-0	5	3	0	0	1	1
Randall	2	3	1	1	1	2
Aramboles	1	0	0	0	0	1
Williamson	1	1	0	0	1	0

HBP-by Reyes (Dunn). WP-Randall.

T-2:21. A-3,673.