Anatomy of an At-Bat: Griffey's Record-Tying Homer

Ken Griffey, Jr.'s fifth-inning homer yesterday was his eighth on opening day, tying him with Frank Robinson for the most opening day four-baggers in history. Here's how it happened:

Griffey leads off the top of the fifth inning, with the M's ahead 1-0.

Pitch 1: Twins starter Francisco Liriano begins with a 91-mph inside fastball. Griffey takes the pitch for a ball.

Pitch 2 (1 ball, 0 strikes): Liriano tries to work the other side of the plate, throwing a slider on the outside corner. The pitch misses well outside and Griffey takes it for ball two.

Pitch 3 (2-0): Behind in the count to the first hitter of the inning, Liriano must try a fastball. He throws it at 92 mph on the inside corner. Griffey is able to foul it off.

Pitch 4 (2-1): Liriano throws almost the exact same pitch, Griffey fouls it off again.

Pitch 5 (2-2): Hoping to catch Griffey off balance by changing speeds, Liriano throws a slider that Twins catcher Mike Redmond sets up to catch low and on the outside corner. However, Liriano badly misses that target, and the pitch instead crosses the middle of the plate at Griffey's waist. Junior unleashes one of his classic swings and smacks it over the right field wall for his 612th career homer, franchise-leading 399th as a Mariner.

Video here (temporarily).

The Mariners play the Twins again today at 5:10 p.m. Erik Bedard will pitch for the Mariners, Nick Blackburn for the Twins. Watch the game on FSN, listen on ESPN 710.