MIAMI – Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run on Monday night, completing his long ascent and becoming the sixth player in history to reach that milestone.

The Cincinnati Reds outfielder homered off Florida lefty Mark Hendrickson in the first inning. Griffey joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa.

The 38-year-old homered with Jerry Hairston on third and one out. The left-handed swinger launched a 3-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-field seats.

Griffey received a standing ovation from the relatively sparse crowd and responded by coming out of the Reds dugout and tipping his helmet to the fans.

The game was the last one of an eight-game road trip for the Reds, who will return home Tuesday night to play the St. Louis Cardinals.

Controversy ensued in the stands following the home run. Justin Kimball, a 25-year-old from Miami, said he caught the home run ball, put it in a wool cap and then had the cap ripped from his hands. Kimball said someone ran off with the ball.

Police said they had found the fan with the baseball and would look at video tape to see if Kimball’s claims could be supported.

The slugger hasn’t enjoyed many golden moments since the Reds got him from Seattle in 2000. This will rank as one of his best with Cincinnati and, possibly, one of his last, given that he’s in the final year of his contract.

Griffey, one of baseball’s most prolific sluggers before injuries began to take their toll, started the season with 593 home runs.

It took 216 at-bats to make history – his previous homer came May 31.

Griffey hit No. 597 on April 23 at Great American Ball Park, then went 90 at-bats – the second-longest drought of his career – before connecting again in San Diego on May 22.

He went another 29 at-bats, and even got a day off during the week to work on his swing, before hitting No. 599. Griffey went 17 at-bats between that homer and No. 600.

Like his 400th and 500th, this home run came on the road.

Unlike Bonds and Sosa, Griffey has stayed clear of questions about whether he came by all of his homers legitimately. His name has never come up in baseball’s steroids scandal. Unlike Sosa, he’s never been caught using a doctored bat.

AP Sports Writer Joe Kay in Cincinnati contributed to this report