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CINCINNATI — An MRI revealed that Jeff Keppinger's fractured left kneecap should heal in four to six weeks — good news for the Cincinnati Reds, who feared the worse, but bad news for Keppinger, who didn't want to miss any games.

Keppinger was mentally down as he sat on a training table after he was X-rayed when Ken Griffey Jr. walked in — the master of disaster with knee injuries.

"Griffey calmed me down a lot because I was struggling with it," said Keppinger. "He told me to take it easy and relax and everything will take care of itself."

Keppinger fractured the knee with a foul ball, then played two innings.

"If I had felt bad at the time, I wouldn't have gone out there," he said. "The pitcher hit a hard ball at me and I couldn't move. When he got on first base I knew I couldn't get to second base to cover or turn a double play, so I figured I'd get out so they could put somebody in who could do it."

Keppinger's replacement, minor-league shortstop Paul Janish, arrived at noon Wednesday from Class AAA Louisville and said, "I'm fired up and antsy, but I'm ready to go. Excited. I didn't sleep much (Tuesday night) after they told me I was going up."

Janish was not in Wednesday's lineup and manager Dusty Baker plans to ease him in.

"Jerry Hairston Jr. is playing well," said Baker. "We're trying to get the best lineups per night with matchups. I have an opinion of what his strong points are. We'll try to match him up with his best chance to succeed. You try to do that with young guys — give them their best chance to succeed."

Father knows best

When Ken Griffey Sr. pops into town, Ken Griffey Jr. knows it is time to listen because father knows best.

"He threw batting practice to me (Tuesday)," said Junior. "He noticed right away I was not letting the ball get to me. After a couple of pitches where I started my swing halfway, he stopped and said, 'What ARE you doing and where ARE you going? Stay in there and wait."

Assessing the 'V' guys

Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez is impressed with two Reds players he had never seen — pitcher Edinson Volquez and first baseman Joey Votto.

"Good arm and some great breaking pitches," he said of Volquez. "He throws those breaking balls anywhere in the count. He seems to have a good feel for things, as well as good stuff. I couldn't tell his slider from his fastball and that change-up was getting some funky swings."

Of Votto, Gonzalez said, "I like that kid. He looks hitterish at the plate, stands in there with a good strong approach."

Pennies from heaven

Pitcher Josh Fogg arrived at his locker Wednesday to find it stacked with 60 boxes of pennies, 2,500 pennies to a box. He immediately looked at Griffey and said, "That's good, Griff, real funny. Kick me when I'm down."

Griffey warned him but Fogg didn't believe it when Griffey said he was going to pay off a $1,500 debt in pennies.

"I'm a man of my word," said Griffey. "When you owe a man $1,500, you pay him. You can't do a whole lot with pennies, can you? Just think, each box weighs 16 pounds so Fogg has 60 bowling balls in his locker."

Said Fogg, "I'm going to take them to bullpen and count them because I have a lot time on my hands."

Farm report

Jay Bruce gets better and better and better. Louisville played Wednesday afternoon and beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre behind Bruce's homer, triple, double and two walks, reaching base every appearance.

Bruce is on a five-game hitting streak (12-18, three homers, nine RBIs) and his batting average is .366.

Louisville first baseman Andy Phillips has a 17-game hitting streak during which he is hitting .362.

Quote of the day

Asked if Keppinger had hobbled into his office on crutches to see him, Baker said, "No, it is easier for me to go see him than it is for him to come to see me."

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