updated 7:19 p.m. ET Sept. 5, 2006

CINCINNATI - The slight limp gave it away.

Ken Griffey Jr. walked slowly and carefully on Tuesday, a day after he dislocated a toe on his right foot while trying to make a catch. He was out of the Cincinnati Reds’ lineup, and had no guess about when he might be back.

Asked if this injury could linger, Griffey said, “It shouldn’t.”

“Right now, we’re just waiting for the swelling to go down,” he said. “That’s it.”

It’s the first time that the 36-year-old outfielder has dislocated a toe. He jammed his cleats into the padded outfield wall as he reached for Barry Bonds’ two-run homer in the eighth inning Monday night.

Griffey couldn’t reach the homer, which tied the game and set up San Francisco’s 5-4 comeback win. And he lost his footing as well, twisting the toe next to his big toe.

“I went up and at first, I didn’t get a good grip,” he said. “All of a sudden I started to slide down and I got caught and that’s when I felt it.”

He limped off the field, and a doctor popped the toe back into place.

The injury was the latest in a series of setbacks for the Reds, who were less than a percentage point out of first place in the NL Central before going into a 1-8 slump on a West Coast trip.

Griffey had been on a tear heading into that trip, hitting safely in 15 consecutive games. He was in an 0-for-12 slump when he dislocated the toe. Overall, Griffey is batting .251 with 26 homers and 69 RBIs.

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The series-opening loss to San Francisco dropped the Reds a season-low two games under .500 and into fifth place in the NL wild card race, trailing San Diego by 3½ games. Philadelphia, Florida and San Francisco also were ahead of them.

“We’re not out of it,” Griffey said. “We just haven’t had some breaks we needed.”

The injury was one they could have done without.

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