By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in his first start of the season for the Reds. The center fielder, whose Cincinnati career has been marred by injury, sat out Monday's opener. The Cincinnati Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER

Fifty-eight times before Wednesday, Dave Miley filled out a Reds lineup card.

The 59th was a keeper.

"I'll probably put that one up in my lock box," he said.

For the first time since he took over as Reds manager July 28, Miley had a full-strength starting outfield at his disposal Wednesday.

Center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., who missed Monday's season opener with a strained right calf, made his season debut against the Cubs at Great American Ball Park.

With Adam Dunn in left field and Austin Kearns in right, it marked the first time the trio had started a game together since June 25 at St. Louis.

"Just to see his name in the lineup is such a bonus for this club," first baseman Sean Casey said of Griffey. "It changes the whole dynamic of our lineup. He's dangerous."

Griffey showed just how dangerous he is in the third inning by smacking a two-run home run over left-center field off Greg Maddux. The 34-year-old Griffey was held out of Monday's starting lineup for precautionary reasons.

He strained his right calf leaving the batter's box during a spring training game nine days earlier and had not played since.

"I'm playing," Griffey said before the game, "and that's all you really need to know."

More than four hours before Paul Wilson's first pitch to Mark Grudzielanek, Griffey tested the calf in right field as trainers watched. He then took an extended round of batting practice.

"He said he felt great," Reds head trainer Mark Mann said. "No restrictions at all."

Griffey will continue on a daily stretching and strengthening routine for at least the next two weeks. He will be placed on a season-long maintenance program thereafter.

The Reds are being extra cautious with Griffey's calf, and not just because of his injury-filled history with the Reds.

Shortstop Barry Larkin missed 39 games and went to the disabled list twice because of strained calf muscles last season.

"I think Junior's was not the severity of Barry's," Mann said. "This was a case where we wanted to shut Junior down and treat him very conservatively because of our past experiences. This is something that can linger."

Since being traded to the Reds in 2000, Griffey has been on the disabled list five times for an assortment of injuries.

He appeared in just 53 games last season when he suffered a dislocated right shoulder (April 5) and a torn tendon in his right ankle (July 17).

"Hopefully his name is written in the lineup a lot this year," Casey said. "I think that's what he's been working his (rear) off for in the off-season. He's really worked hard to get back so he could have a good year."

E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com