By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reds' John Vander Wal continues to astound the medical people.

"He's done phenomenally," Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek said. "He's far exceeded what everyone expected. It's been amazing."

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

Vander Wal had knee surgery to repair a torn ACL in January. It was speculated at the time that he could miss the season.

Now, it looks as if he may be back before the end of May.

"I've got a target date," he said. "But I'm not going to say when."

Don't be shocked if Vander Wal is playing in two weeks or so.

Friday, Vander Wal took balls in the outfield. It was not a stationary exercise. Vander Wal was chasing down balls in the gap.

"I felt like I covered it pretty well for the first day," he said. "Everything feels good. It's just a matter of increasing baseball activities."

Vander Wal would be a huge boost to the bench. He is one of the game's premier pinch-hitters. He ranks fifth all-time with 125 hits and third all-time with 17 home runs.

He also can play left field and right field and first base.

Reds manager Dave Miley, whose career was cut short by two knee surgeries, is among those amazed at Vander Wal.

"He's further ahead than I thought he'd be," Miley said. "It's a testimony to his fortitude and will power. He's put a lot of work into it."

MORE GOOD NEWS: Outfielder Austin Kearns is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday and catcher Jason LaRue is eligible Friday.

The Reds have said LaRue likely will be ready the first day he is eligible. They have been more cautious with Kearns.

But it looks as if he'll be ready as soon or close to as soon as he's eligible.

LaRue threw Friday for the first time since suffering a fracture to his right index finger.

Kearns took batting practice with the rest of the team Friday.

GRIFFEY V. WLW: Tracy Jones, a former teammate of Ken Griffey Jr. and currently a host on WLW's Extra Innings, offered Griffey a chance to come on the radio Friday night and tell his side of the story.

"I'm not doing anything with WLW," Griffey said.

Griffey is angry with the station because SportsTalk host Andy Furman has been getting a lot of mileage out of comments Griffey made to USA Today about some fans being "clowns."

Griffey and Furman had a loud discussion on the issue Tuesday.

GOOD GRAVY: Closer Danny Graves said he felt better Thursday night than he has felt all season.

He looked as good as he felt. He worked a perfect ninth, striking out two.

It came the night after he threw two innings for the first time all year.

"I had my best movement, velocity, location," he said. "I think those two innings got my mechanics straightened out."

Graves led the majors with 12 saves and his ERA was down to 2.87 going into Friday night.

All in all, he seems like the guy he was before the ill-fated starting experiment. He even broke his 10-decision losing streak with his victory Wednesday night.

"Eight of those were when I was starting," he said. "They shouldn't count. It should say "Did Not Play" on the back of my baseball card under 2003."

ACEVDO UPDATE: Right-hander Jose Acevedo did not throw a bullpen session Friday. With Monday's off day, they decided to have him wait an extra day.

He left his Wednesday start with a blister on his middle finger.

"I played catch today," Acevedo said Friday. "It felt OK."

FARM REPORT: Matt Belisle, the 23-year-old right-hander obtained in the Kent Mercker deal with Atlanta last year, pitched seven innings of two-run ball Thursday in Triple-A Louisville's 8-3 win over Durham. He allowed five hits, walked none and struck out five.

Catcher Dane Sardinha continues to swing a hot bat. He went 2-for-4 with his fourth home run. He's hitting .424 with four home runs in his last eight games.

UP NEXT: The Reds play the Giants in the second game of the three-game series today. Right-hander Paul Wilson (3-0, 4.79 ERA) faces right-hander Dustin Hermanson (1-1, 4.70).

Hermanson is making his first start since coming off the disabled list with a lower back strain.

REDS FACT: Ken Griffey Jr. is the 60th major leaguer to have more than 1,400 RBI. His five RBI Thursday gave him 1,403.

Reds statistics

(Through Thursday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.389	.427	113	20	44	12	1	3	23	8	8	1	0	1
Dunn	.305	.525	82	24	25	4	0	10	20	37	33	2	0	1
Larkin	.300	.352	100	17	30	6	1	0	6	8	13	2	0	0
Cruz	.294	.400	17	3	5	1	0	0	2	3	10	0	0	0
Larson	.265	.342	34	4	9	2	0	1	5	4	6	0	0	4
Griffey	.245	.327	98	14	24	7	0	4	19	11	21	1	0	0
Castro	.244	.306	45	7	11	2	1	1	6	4	11	0	0	1
Freel	.237	.293	76	9	18	3	2	1	5	3	17	5	2	4
Jimenez	.217	.354	106	18	23	5	0	3	12	22	24	2	2	2
LaRue	.211	.292	57	7	12	4	0	1	10	5	11	0	0	3
Pena	.200	.273	40	3	8	1	1	1	4	3	19	0	0	0
Valentin	.171	.225	35	4	6	2	0	2	7	3	5	0	0	3
Kearns	.137	.290	51	7	7	2	1	2	5	10	15	1	0	1
Romano	.077	.200	13	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	7	0	0	0
Miller	.000	.316	13	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	0	0	0
Team Totals	.246	.347	932	139	229	53	7	29	127	135	234	14	4	20

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Riedling	1	0	0.60	14	0	0	15.0	7	1	1	0	3	13
Graves	1	2	2.87	16	0	12	15.2	16	9	5	5	2	11
Van Poppel	1	1	4.50	6	0	0	12.0	13	6	6	0	4	8
Acevedo	2	2	4.54	6	6	0	35.2	34	19	18	8	7	29
Lidle	2	1	4.75	6	6	0	36.0	37	20	19	4	8	19
Wilson	3	0	4.79	6	6	0	35.2	46	21	19	5	10	19
Harang	2	1	4.96	6	6	0	32.2	42	18	18	5	14	26
Jones	2	1	5.74	15	0	0	15.2	15	10	10	1	7	14
Norton	0	0	6.30	13	0	0	10.0	11	7	7	1	3	6
Reith	0	1	8.18	11	0	0	11.0	15	10	10	1	9	12
Wagner	1	1	9.31	12	0	0	9.2	22	12	10	2	9	6
Haynes	0	3	9.60	5	4	0	15.0	26	17	16	3	7	8
Team Totals	15	13	5.13	28	28	12	244.0	284	150	139	35	83	171