Griffey sits vs. Bucs lefty Maholm

Sometimes, too honest.

When he saw his name missing from Monday's starting lineup vs. the Pirates, Reds right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. saw 9-year-old Darren Baker in the clubhouse. Griffey asked the little Baker why his father, manager Dusty Baker, didn't start him.

"Because you can't hit lefties," Darren Baker replied.

Griffey laughed and jokingly pinned the boy on the sofa. For good measure, an unintimidated Darren had one more shot to fire.

"You're old," Darren told Griffey.

"How old am I?" Griffey asked.

"Fifty," said Darren.

Griffey laughed again.

"Fifty? If I'm 50, how old is your daddy?" said Griffey.

When told of this conversation later, all Dusty Baker could do was shake his head and laugh, too.

"Well, don't ask kids if you don't want to know," Baker said.

Baker reasoned that the decision to sit Griffey was because of the matchup against Pittsburgh's lefty starter, Paul Maholm. Jay Bruce moved to right field, while Jerry Hairston started in center.

"This guy is tough on lefties," Baker said. "[Adam] Dunn has been pretty good [against Maholm] and Griff hasn't. I'm just trying to find a way to get some right-handers in there. Griff will be back in there tomorrow. The guy tomorrow, [Zach Duke], has been tough on Dunn. Jerry [Hairston] and [Jeff] Keppinger are just getting their strokes together, and [so is] Edwin [Encarnacion]."

A closer look at the numbers, however, and that reasoning didn't add up. Dunn came in 3-for-22 (.136) lifetime against Maholm. Griffey was 5-for-18 (.278) with one home run. Against Duke, Dunn is 5-for-9 (.556) and Griffey is 1-for-6 (.167).

"Why the heck aren't you in the lineup?" Dunn asked Griffey earlier in the clubhouse.

"A good solid benching, huh?" Griffey replied. "It seemed to have worked for you. It's a little jump-start."