Griffey ran on a treadmill for 12 minutes. He said the leg felt better, but it still tended to tighten. Griffey has never had a problem like this one.

''It's just a knot,'' Griffey said. ''They rub it out, it comes back.''

Manager Jerry Narron had hoped that Griffey would be back in the lineup Monday. He was encouraged after Griffey's workout on the treadmill.

''He's getting close,'' Narron said. ''It feels much better. Before too long, he'll be back in the starting lineup.''

Griffey, 36, didn't think it would take this long.

The muscles behind the knee tightened while he chased a fly ball during batting practice last Wednesday in Chicago. He left the game during the fourth inning because the leg was bothering him.

He was available to pinch-hit Monday, but the Reds didn't want him running in the outfield for fear he could cause more severe damage to the leg.

Griffey came into spring training healthy this year, and looked sharp during the World Baseball Classic. He hit a pair of homers before injuring the leg last week.

A series of injuries over the past few years taught Griffey the importance of being patient while an injury heals.

''I think I understand a little more now,'' he said. ''I still have the same urge and desire to be out there.''

Getting strict with the Sox

Mark Buehrle was told to stop doing belly flops and slides on the tarp during rain delays. A.J. Pierzynski and Joe Crede were ordered to get a trim.

What, are those fun-loving World Series winning White Sox cracking down?

Not really. General manager Ken Williams doesn't want Buehrle to get hurt and threatened to fine him if he repeated his slip-and-slide performance from Sunday's rain-delayed win over Toronto.

Pierzynski and Crede got the word from owner Jerry Reinsdorf - relayed to them by Williams - that he'd like a neater appearance. Both have long blond hair sticking out from their caps, a style Crede started last season when the team was winning or he was hitting well.

''Jerry Reinsdorf asked me to tell them to get a haircut and look more presentable. So I asked them to get a haircut and look more presentable,'' Williams said Monday.

''Rules are rules and you got to follow them,'' Crede said, adding he'd never gotten a haircut previously in the city of Chicago. He did have a trim this spring in Arizona.

''If you got to cut it, you got to cut it,'' he said.

Pierzynski, who dabbled in some professional wrestling promotion in the offseason, said he already had an appointment Thursday to get a haircut when Williams approached him with Reinsdorf's request. He might have an opportunity, he says, to have his locks trimmed as part of another promotion to raise money for charity.

''Joe's been hitting the ball pretty good. I think he should keep his. But me, I always let my hair grow every winter. I always get it cut April or May. To me I'm just too lazy in the offseason to go get it cut, so I let it go,'' Pierzynski said Monday.

Manager Ozzie Guillen said the hair rules are not his, but ones set down by Reinsdorf many years ago.

''This rule has been here since I got here and was playing. Neat haircuts. He's not saying you got to be bald,'' Guillen said. ''You got to go with his rule.''

Around the horn

Mets: Center fielder Carlos Beltran did not start for the second consecutive game because of tightness in his right hamstring.

Yankees: Pitcher Aaron Small allowed one infield hit over four scoreless innings in his second extended spring training start. Reliever Octavio Dotel is set to pitch one inning in an extended spring training game today. Carlos Pena, who was released by Detroit in late March and signed on Saturday, played in Monday's extended spring game.