CINCINNATI (AP) -- Barry Larkin tore a finger ligament and went into surgery, Ken Griffey Jr. hurt his back and Cincinnati's pitching staff imploded again, completing an all-around miserable night for the Reds.

Todd Hundley homered and Kevin Elster hit a ninth-inning grand slam off Norm Charlton on Friday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage of the Reds' mounting woes for a 9-2 victory.

	Reds trainer Greg Lynn holds Barry Larkin's left hand as they leave the field in the second inning.

"That's a tough night," was how Reds manager Jack McKeon summed it up.

Larkin, the Reds' shortstop and captain, tore a ligament in the middle finger of his glove hand while diving for Mark Grudzielanek's two-run single in the second inning.

Larkin's glove caught on the artificial turf as he dived, twisting his hand. He immediately went to a hospital for surgery and will be out for two-to-four weeks.

"Losing Larkin -- that's huge," said Dodgers manager Davey Johnson, who managed the Reds in the mid-90s.

Larkin's injury came two days after first baseman Sean Casey returned from a broken right thumb sustained in the final exhibition game.

"We just got Casey back for a couple of days and now this," Griffey said. "It's rough for us."

There was more. Griffey pulled muscles in his back on a swing in the second inning and had to frequently bend to try to keep loose the rest of the game.

Griffey was 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks and could only jog out a fourth-inning grounder, but played the entire game. A trainer came out to talk with him after his painful swing in the second inning.

"I tweaked it just a little," Griffey said. "You can't come out in that situation. We already lost one guy and you can't quit. If I couldn't swing or run, I would have come out."

The Dodgers overcame a ragged start by Eric Gagne to win a game that will be remembered more for the subplots. It started 27 minutes late because clubhouse attendants had to go on a last-minute shopping spree when the umpires' equipment got misdirected to New York.

With the crew wearing black golfers' rain suits on a damp and raw night, both starting pitchers struggled with their control and the cold, frequently blowing on their hands.

"That was survival tonight," Elster said. "I might have played in colder weather, but I've never felt as cold as I did early on."

Matt Herges (1-0) got his first major league win by pitching 2 2/3 hitless innings in relief of Gagne, who threw 117 pitches in 4 1/3 innings.

Herges, 30, finally made it to the major leagues last August and went 0-2 in 17 games. He had the ball from his first big-league win resting in his glove in his cubicle.

"I don't have the words to describe it," he said. "I'm grateful."

Elster topped it off with a ninth-inning slam off Charlton, who walked the bases loaded before giving up the first-pitch homer in his first appearance for the Reds since 1992.

"I wanted to jump on the first fastball I saw and he got it up," Elster said.

Steve Parris (1-3) had a bases-loaded double in the second for both of Cincinnati's runs, but lasted only two-plus innings. The right-hander gave up seven hits and two walks, needing 46 pitches to get through the second inning alone, as his ERA climbed to 8.47.

Hundley, only 2-for-14 on the Dodgers' recent homestand, led off the second with his third homer. Grudzielanek's single up the middle that eluded Larkin made it 3-0.

Parris' first double since 1995 cut it to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning as Gagne struggled almost as much. The right-hander threw 43 pitches in his half-inning.

Los Angeles made it 5-2 in the third when Adrian Beltre got a two-run single on a ball that deflected off the glove of reliever Scott Sullivan and rolled through the hole at shortstop.

Game notes
Herges had an embarrassing moment in the seventh, when he came to bat and went to first base on what he mistakenly thought was ball four. He was summoned back to home and struck out on the next pitch. ... Gagne struck out eight, matching his career high. ... It was Elster's third career slam, his first since 1996. ... Larkin singled in the first and got the 350th stolen base of his career. ... The helmet that Griffey wore when he hit his 400th homer in Colorado is heading to the Hall of Fame. ... The Reds threw two more wild pitches, giving them 17 in 17 games -- most in the majors. ... The Reds have opened all six of their series this season with losses.