Cleveland ? Only a few inches separated Ken Griffey Jr. from making history.

Griffey rocketed two balls off the wall in Jacobs Field but stayed stuck with 498 career home runs as the Cincinnati Reds lost to the Cleveland Indians, 6-5, in 11 innings Friday night.

Pinch-hitter Lou Merloni drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the 11th off Phil Norton (0-1) for the Indians, who rallied from a three-run deficit.

Merloni’s jog to first came on a night when 27,308 fans were hoping to see Griffey make a home run trot or two. He almost did.

“He just missed,” said Reds manager Dave Miley.

Griffey went 3-for-5 with two doubles, the first of which off starter C.C. Sabathia nearly went for career homer No. 499. With two more homers, he’ll be the 20th member of the 500 club.

In the lineup as Cincinnati’s DH, Griffey hit a shot to right in the third inning that one-hopped the wall for a long single.

He came within inches of his 18th homer in the fifth, driving a double the opposite way to left that struck the padding on the 19-foot-high wall just below the yellow line.

“I knew it had a chance,” Miley said. “But I knew that big green wall was there, too.”

Griffey came in just 1-for-5 against Sabathia, but made solid contact in all three at-bats against the left-hander.

Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. doubles off Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia. Griffey had three hits Friday at Cleveland, but the Indians defeated the Reds, 6-5, in 11 innings.

“That’s the old Ken Griffey out there,” Sabathia said. “Fastball away, he hits it off the left-field wall. Fastball inside, off the right-field. I can only imagine facing him back in the day.”

Griffey doubled again in the seventh. The Indians shifted on him in the ninth and he grounded out to second baseman Ronnie Belliard, who was 30 feet deep in the outfield grass.

The Reds have lost four straight.

David Riske (3-2) stuck out five in two innings as the Indians won the opener of the three-game interleague series against their NL in-state rivals.

Coco Crisp went 4-for-4 for the Indians, who improved to 4-7 in extra innings.

Tigers 8, Marlins 4

Detroit — Ivan Rodriguez homered in his first game against his former team, helping Detroit beat Florida.

Dmitri Young hit a three-run shot for his first homer of the year, and Carlos Guillen added a two-run drive for the Tigers.

Rodriguez, the catcher who helped Florida to a surprising World Series title last October, went 2-for-4 with a single.

The 10-time All-Star signed a $40 million, four-year contract with Detroit in the offseason.

Gary Knotts (4-1), another former Marlin, earned the win. He allowed four runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Former Tigers farmhand Tommy Phelps (1-1) took the loss, giving up six runs and six in three-plus innings.

Red Sox 2, Dodgers 1

Boston — David Ortiz singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning after homering in the seventh for Boston in the Dodgers’ first game ever at Fenway Park.

After left fielder Manny Ramirez’s error gave the Dodgers an unearned run in the top of the ninth, Johnny Damon started the bottom of the inning by walking against Tom Martin (0-1). Damon went to third on Mark Bellhorn’s double to left, and scored on Ortiz’s single just inside the right-field line.

Keith Foulke (2-0) earned the win after Derek Lowe pitched seven scoreless innings and Mike Timlin also threw a shutout inning.

Odalis Perez pitched the first eight innings for Los Angeles, allowing one run on five hits.

Padres 10, Yankees 2

New York — Adam Eaton pitched seven sharp innings, Phil Nevin hit a three-run homer and San Diego capitalized on Mike Mussina’s early departure to beat New York.

Mussina left after just three innings because of tightness in his right groin. His injury occurred just two days after teammate Kevin Brown left his start against Colorado with a strained back.

Eaton (3-6) has won consecutive starts after losing six straight decisions.

D’backs 3, Blue Jays 2

Toronto — Danny Bautista hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning and Arizona rallied for a victory over Toronto.

With the Diamondbacks down 2-0 in the ninth, Chad Tracy doubled off reliever Jason Frasor (2-2) before Alex Cintron hit an RBI double.

Tim Olson slapped a one-out single to center for his first major league hit, tying it at 2.

One out later, Toronto reliever Terry Adams walked Steve Finley before Bautista singled to center, giving Arizona the lead.

Devil Rays 8, Rockies 7 10 innings

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Rey Sanchez hit an inside-the-park homer in the 10th inning to lead Tampa Bay over Colorado.

Sanchez hit a liner to right field off Shawn Chacon (0-3) that went all the way to the wall after Jeromy Burnitz missed a shoestring catch attempt. Center fielder Choo Freeman backed up the play and retrieved the ball, but Sanchez was already headed home with the winning run.

Jose Cruz Jr. and Robert Fick homered for the Devil Rays, who are 14-6 in their last 20 games.

Braves 6, White Sox 4

Chicago — Jaret Wright (5-5) pitched two-hit ball for seven scoreless innings, and Eli Marrero hit a three-run double for Atlanta. The White Sox rallied for four runs against John Smoltz in the ninth, but Smoltz struck out Timo Perez with a runner on to end it.

Phillies 11, Twins 6

Minneapolis — Ricky Ledee’s three-run homer, his second of the night, capped a five-run ninth inning for Philadelphia in a victory that ended Minnesota’s four-game winning streak.

Lew Ford’s two-run homer in the seventh for the Twins tied it at 6, but Jim Thome gave the Phillies the lead back with a two-run double in the ninth against J.C. Romero.

Cardinals 12, Rangers 7

Arlington, Texas — Albert Pujols returned from a hamstring injury and drove in a run, and John Mabry homered and had five RBIs.

Reggie Sanders homered had three hits for the Cardinals, who have a major league-best 22-11 record on the road.

Jeff Suppan (6-5) gave up four runs, two earned, in six innings and improved to 5-0 lifetime against Texas.

Angels 3, Cubs 2

Anaheim, Calif. — John Lackey outpitched Greg Maddux, and Anaheim beat Chicago. Lackey (4-7) held the Cubs to two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out six, walked one and won for the first time in five decisions. With closer Troy Percival on the disabled list, Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save and second in two nights.

Maddux (5-5) gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings, with six strikeouts and no walks.

Mariners 1, Expos 0

Seattle — The Mariners ended a 29-inning scoreless drought on Pat Borders’ bases-loaded single off Livan Hernandez with two outs in the ninth.

Seattle hadn’t scored since Scott Spiezio homered in the fifth inning of a 5-0 win over Houston on Monday night.

Ryan Franklin allowed five hits in eight scoreless innings for Seattle, and Eddie Guardado (2-0) worked a hitless ninth for the win.

Athletics 6, Pirates 1

Oakland, Calif. — Tim Hudson allowed one run in seven innings to lead Oakland past Pittsburgh for its season-high sixth straight win.

Damian Miller and Marco Scutaro each drove in two runs for the Athletics, who sent the Pirates to their sixth consecutive defeat.

Hudson (7-2) allowed five hits, walked two and struck out five. He also hit three batters with pitches, tying an Oakland record. He has hit 45 batters in his career, also matching Mike Norris for the most by an Oakland pitcher.

Orioles, Giants ppd.

Baltimore — Friday’s game between San Francisco and Baltimore was postponed by rain, and will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.