Cincinnati ? Mike Mussina felt like he was pitching in a different NL city, the one that’s a mile high and a homer haven. Mussina surrendered four homers, including a solo shot by injured Ken Griffey Jr., as the Cincinnati Reds pulled away to a 6-2 victory Wednesday night over the New York Yankees.

Griffey mildly strained his right biceps on a swing against Mussina in the fifth inning, but stayed in the game for one more pitch and homered — a measure of how the ball flies in the majors’ most homer-prone park.

Aaron Boone, Sean Casey and Jason LaRue also homered off Mussina (7-4), who took his worst beating of the season. The Reds’ four homers came in a span of only 11 batters, and left Mussina feeling like he was in Denver.

“A couple of times tonight, they hit pitches that people usually don’t hit for home runs,” Mussina said. “In this ballpark, the ball flies out like Coors Field. It gets up in the air and you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Jason Giambi hit a two-run shot off Paul Wilson (3-4) that fit the occasion — all eight runs generated by homers. Ninety have flown out in 30 games at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds would like to think it has more to do with their power than the park. They’re second in the NL in homers.

“I don’t think you can say the homers here have been cheap,” said Casey, whose two-run shot put the Reds ahead to stay. “We hit them on the road, too.”

The Yankees returned to Cincinnati for the first time since 1976, when they got swept by the Big Red Machine in the World Series, and have dropped the first two games of the long-awaited rematch in front of capacity crowds.

“They’re excited,” manager Joe Torre said. “All of the talk has been about ‘the big bad Yankees, the rich Yankees.’ They went out and beat us last night, and they beat us up pretty good tonight.”

The Yankees have lost eight of their last 12 games overall, a skid that has cost them first place in the AL East and made owner George Steinbrenner antsy. Boston’s doubleheader sweep of Pittsburgh on Wednesday moved the Red Sox into first place for the first time since May 29, a half-game up on New York.

Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. holds his right arm to his chest while rounding third after hitting a home run. At left is third base coach Tim Foli. Griffey strained his right biceps during the Reds' 6-2 victory over the Yankees Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Since their 20-4 start, the Yankees have gone 13-21 and looked vulnerable.

Red Sox 11-8, Pirates 4-3

Pittsburgh — Trot Nixon homered for the second consecutive game as Boston beat Pittsburgh 8-3 to complete a doubleheader sweep. Derek Lowe allowed two runs — one earned — and five hits over seven innings to win for the second time in his last three starts. In the opener, Byung-Hyun Kim (1-0) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings in his first start with Boston, and Manny Ramirez went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs as Boston won 11-4. Jason Varitek had a three-run homer for the Red Sox, who had four homers overall.

Devil Rays 5, Cubs 2

Chicago — Whatever bat he might be using, Sammy Sosa is having trouble making contact. Awaiting word on his punishment from the commissioner’s office for using a corked bat, Sosa went 1-for-4 and struck out three times as Tampa Bay beat Chicago.

Cubs fans at Wrigley showed whose side they are on, despite a torrent of criticism Sosa has received nationwide. Many of the announced crowd of 33,317 cheered him as he sprinted to his position in right field and gave him a standing ovation when he came to the plate in the first before striking out. Only a few scattered boos could be heard.

One sign in the bleachers said: “Still Lovin Sammy.”

Sosa is now 3-for-20 in five games since coming off the disabled list last Friday and has struck out 11 times.

Sosa singled in the ninth, and a run later scored on second baseman Marlon Anderson’s error.

Cardinals 8, Blue Jays 5

St. Louis — Miguel Cairo snapped an 0-for-18 slump with three hits as St. Louis battered Toronto. The Cardinals won the first game of the series 11-5 and have won three in a row overall, making them 5-4 on a 13-game homestand. Edgar Renteria had a two-run double and slow-footed Tino Martinez and Mike Matheny had back-to-back triples in the sixth to chase Cory Lidle (8-4).

Rockies 2, Indians 1

Denver — Darren Oliver pitched four scoreless innings after a shaky start as Colorado beat Cleveland in the third-lowest scoring game in Coors Field history. Colorado, the league’s worst road team, played through two rain delays lasting more than two hours to push its win home win streak to seven games.

D’backs 8, White Sox 6

Phoenix — Shea Hillenbrand hit his first National League home run and doubled twice to help Arizona beat Chicago. Hillenbrand, in his fourth game since coming to the Diamondbacks from Boston, had an RBI double to right in the first, a two-run homer to left in the third and a double to the left field corner in the fifth.

Angels 11, Expos 2

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Garret Anderson homered three times and Jeff DaVanon had his third straight multihomer game as Anaheim once again took advantage of the cozy confines of Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Troy Glaus and Brad Fullmer also homered for the World Series champion Angels, who set a club record with seven homers in the game and matched a record for AL teams with 13 homers in two games. The New York Yankees first did it in a doubleheader on June 28, 1939.

Braves 5, Rangers 2

Atlanta — Greg Maddux pitched eight strong innings, drove in a run and made a stellar defensive play as the Braves defeated Texas. Gary Sheffield hit a two-run homer for Atlanta, which sent the Rangers to their fifth straight loss. Maddux (5-5) has put together three straight effective starts in an up-and-down season.

Tigers 5, Padres 3

San Diego — The San Diego Padres hit bottom, replacing the Detroit Tigers as the worst team in baseball. The Tigers handed off their dubious distinction in person, beating the Padres as pitcher Steve Avery had a pinch-hit single and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. The Tigers beat the Padres for the second straight night.

Athletics 6, Marlins 5

Miami — Scott Hatteberg hit an RBI single in the eighth inning and Oakland beat Florida. The A’s took a 5-1 lead behind Tim Hudson. But his throwing error in the seventh helped Florida tie it. In the Athletics’ eighth, Frank Menechino and pinch-hitter Billy McMillon drew one-out walks. Eric Byrnes followed with a comebacker, but Tim Spooneybarger (1-2) hesitated as he looked toward third. Instead, Spooneybarger got an out at second base. Hatteberg then singled.

Astros 6, Orioles 4

Houston — Wade Miller allowed four hits over seven innings as Houston rallied past Baltimore. Trailing 3-2, the Astros scored three runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Craig Biggio, a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Gregg Zaun and a wild pitch by B.J. Ryan, who had replaced starter Pat Hentgen (1-3) after Biggio’s double. Morgan Ensberg’s RBI single in the eighth made it 6-3.

Mariners 7, Phillies 2

Philadelphia — John Olerud doubled twice and drove in four runs to back Gil Meche, and Seattle beat Philadelphia for its eighth straight win. Ichiro Suzuki went 4-for-5 and Bret Boone extended his hitting streak to 10 games for the Mariners, who scored three of their runs on sacrifice flies.

Giants 4, Twins 3

San Francisco — Barry Bonds singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, leading San Francisco past Minnesota. Bonds emphatically stomped on first base after his hit, which got the Giants back on track after they’d lost two straight following a five-game winning streak to start their season-long 12-game homestand. Bonds hit an RBI triple earlier in the game.