CINCINNATI -- Jim Edmonds hit a three-run homer off closer Danny Graves, and John Mabry added a two-run shot that completed the biggest ninth-inning comeback in St. Louis Cardinals history Monday night, a 10-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Ken Griffey Jr.'s disputed homer -- a drive that hit the top of the wall and bounced back -- helped Cincinnati pull ahead 9-3 after eight innings. The Cardinals then sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in the ninth.

David Weathers let in the first two, and Edmonds cut it to 9-8 with a two-out homer, his sixth. After first baseman Sean Casey's fielding error prolonged it, Mabry hit his first homer of the season off Graves (1-1), who blew a save for the first time in nine chances.

The last time the Reds blew a six-run lead in the ninth was June 29, 1952, when an 8-2 lead turned into a 9-8 loss to the Cubs.

The Reds appeared to have the game well in hand after they scored four runs in the eighth, which ended with Randy Flores (1-0) striking out Adam Dunn.

Julian Tavarez closed out the Cardinals' biggest comeback win of the season by pitching the ninth for his second save.

The NL Central leaders went 14-5 against the Reds last season, and have won two of three this year. All the Reds could win on Monday was a home-run dispute.

Griffey failed to hit a homer in his first 79 at-bats, the longest drought of his career to start a season. He broke it with a shot in Milwaukee on Saturday that barely cleared the wall in center.

Television replays confirmed that his second homer of the season didn't even make it that far.

Griffey led off the sixth with a drive that landed on the yellow padding atop the wall in center and bounced back. The umpires ruled the ball was in play, with Griffey stopping at second for a double. Then, the crew huddled and decided it was a homer -- the 503rd of Griffey's career.

The umpiring crew was led by Ed Montague, a 30-year veteran who worked home plate for the All-Star game last year and Game 1 of the World Series, when Boston beat St. Louis.

Edmonds and manager Tony La Russa argued briefly, then returned to the dugout and watched the torment continue for starter Chris Carpenter. First baseman Albert Pujols' errant throw extended the inning, setting up Rich Aurilia's sacrifice fly and Jason LaRue's two-run double for a 5-2 lead.

Left-hander Eric Milton, who gave up four homers in his last start, allowed a solo shot by So Taguchi that put the Cardinals up 1-0 in the third. It was the 11th homer this season off Milton, who gave up an NL-leading 43 last year with Philadelphia.

By contrast, St. Louis pitchers had given up only 12 heading into the game. Carpenter gave up two Monday -- or, by the Cardinals' reckoning, 1 1/2.

Aurilia hit an opposite-field shot in the fifth that hit a fan in the first row of seats in right field and tied it at 1. An inning later, Griffey hit the drive that landed on the top of the wall and shot back, starting a dispute.

Dunn hit a solo homer in the eighth off Carmen Cali, and Aurilia had an RBI double off the wall in center -- this one hit the middle -- as the Reds pulled away with another four-run spree.

Notes: Pujols singled and doubled, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. ... 3B Scott Rolen was out of the Cardinals' lineup with a sore upper back. He had started all 23 games this season. ... Pujols is the only Cardinal to play in every game so far. ... Reds pitchers have given up 41 homers in 25 games, most in the NL. Last year, they gave up 236, three shy of the NL record.