By Kevin Kelly
Enquirer staff writer

The Reds paid particularly close attention to the path of Hurricane Charley on Friday.

The club's Gulf Coast League team plays and trains at the City of Sarasota (Fla.) Sports Complex, which also serves as the Reds' spring training home.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

Approximately 50 players, coaches and staff gathered in the clubhouse adjacent to Ed Smith Stadium to ride out the storm. Charley was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall south of Sarasota near Port Charlotte around 4 p.m.

Caterers provided extra food. Whirlpools and coolers were sterilized and filled with fresh water. The Holiday Inn Sarasota Airport-Marina provided pillows, blankets and sheets.

The worst of the storm had passed by 7 p.m., according to Jeff Maultsby, manager of the Reds' Florida operation.

"Fortunate for us it really wasn't too terribly bad," Maultsby said. "We had wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph and some heavy rain. But we really were fortunate that it passed us by."

Maultsby anticipated that players would return to the Holiday Inn later Friday evening.

ALL QUIET: Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., who learned Wednesday that he would need season-ending surgery to repair a torn right hamstring, stopped by Great American Ball Park before Friday's game.

Griffey, who was walking without a noticeable limp, is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday in Cincinnati.

"I feel all right," he said before going into the training room. "As well as I could be."

FAMILIAR ROLE: It has been 10 days since Jose Acevedo started.

The Reds pitcher was moved to the bullpen last week after going 0-6 with a 9.66 ERA and made two relief appearances. Today will be his 23rd start.

"I went down there to work on some things," said Acevedo, who continues to develop a sinkerball. "But it was a good break for me, a chance to rest my arm."

GETTING BACK: Relief pitcher John Riedling made his first appearance since Aug. 1 during Thursday's game against the Dodgers.

The right-hander, who on Tuesday was reinstated from the bereavement list, walked four and threw 37 pitches in 1 1/3 innings.

"Today (my arm) feels like it's been awhile, like I'm back in spring training," Riedling said Friday. "I was putting so much effort into the first inning that by the second inning, I was just tired."

INJURY REPORT: Reliever Mike Matthews, who had surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow July 6, threw another bullpen session Friday.

He is tentatively scheduled to throw batting practice Monday in St. Louis, followed by a simulated game Aug. 20 in Arizona. If all goes well, Matthews could go on a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Aug. 24.

"After that, it's all their discretion," Matthews said.

Shortstop Barry Larkin (left oblique strain) and outfielder John Vander Wal (right knee) were available off the bench Friday.

ODDS AND ENDS: Louisville pitcher Brian Rose allowed one run on eight hits over 7 2/3 innings against Durham on Thursday. He walked two and struck out six in the loss.

REDS FACT: They entered Friday having gone 5-5 in their past 10 games on Friday the 13th.

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E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com

Reds statistics

(Through Friday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.338	.394	396	75	134	37	2	17	71	33	24	1	0	6
Larkin	.308	.358	302	54	93	15	3	7	41	25	34	2	0	4
Freel	.282	.384	365	47	103	13	5	1	21	51	63	22	8	12
Dunn	.279	.408	398	78	111	22	0	35	74	82	135	4	1	4
Lopez	.269	.327	93	14	25	8	0	4	13	8	26	0	0	7
Pena	.261	.316	261	33	68	8	1	19	52	17	83	3	1	6
Jimenez	.254	.352	402	51	102	17	2	7	41	61	69	9	6	6
Griffey	.253	.351	300	49	76	18	0	20	60	44	67	1	0	1
LaRue	.245	.327	290	36	71	15	1	13	41	21	78	0	2	8
Castro	.237	.270	219	25	52	17	1	2	16	10	36	0	0	6
Cruz	.235	.313	115	18	27	5	0	3	22	10	33	0	0	0
Hummel	.218	.281	110	10	24	4	0	1	7	8	17	1	0	4
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Valentin	.211	.263	147	14	31	7	1	5	15	10	25	0	0	4
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Vander Wal	.171	.194	35	2	6	2	0	2	4	1	12	0	0	0
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Bragg	.091	.286	11	2	1	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	0
Team Totals	.253	.335	3914	543	992	202	17	143	517	432	902	46	19	78

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Graves	1	4	3.15	59	0	36	60.0	61	26	21	11	8	36
Riedling	4	3	4.27	52	0	0	59.0	61	36	28	5	30	32
Harang	7	4	4.49	19	19	0	108.1	120	55	54	11	39	87
Norton	1	3	4.50	51	0	0	50.0	51	29	25	4	24	34
Wilson	9	4	4.54	23	23	0	142.2	157	76	72	22	51	92
Wagner	2	1	5.91	32	0	0	32.0	44	25	21	4	19	21
Van Poppel	3	5	5.92	30	10	0	92.2	106	61	61	16	18	60
Acevedo	4	10	6.30	24	22	0	121.1	146	87	85	23	38	97
Claussen	1	3	6.93	5	5	0	24.2	26	22	19	5	15	13
White	1	1	7.27	24	0	0	26.0	28	21	21	11	4	20
Hancock	2	1	8.04	8	3	0	15.2	23	16	14	6	7	10
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Team Totals	55	60	5.32	115	115	37	1022.2	1150	654	605	166	381	689