Cardinals Keep Phillies on the Skids

Hitting sixth was just fine for Mark McGwire on Sunday. The season home run record-holder, dropping to the No. 6 spot for the first time in seven years, went 3-for-3 with four RBIs Sunday as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0 for their 11th straight victory.

"Like I`ve said through my career, it doesn`t matter where you hit," he said. "They`re going to pitch you the same way and I got some balls to hit, and put them in play."

McGwire had been in a 3-for-32 slump with two homers and seven RBIs since Aug. 2. He hadn`t hit sixth since July 14, 1994, for Oakland against Boston.

"He`s going to do damage no matter where he is," catcher Mike Matheny said. "He`s a Hall of Fame player and everybody in here knows no matter how bad he struggles, we know how good he is."

Matt Morris (16-7) allowed five hits in seven innings for the Cardinals, on their longest winning streak since taking 12 straight from April 11-24, 1982, en route to the World Series title.

St. Louis, which won 10 straight from May 7-17, is the first major league team with two double-digit winning streaks in the same season since the 1978 Pittsburgh Pirates won 10 in a row from Aug. 13-24, lost two, then won 11 straight from Aug. 27-Sept. 6.

The Cardinals, 15-4 in August, remained 2½ games behind NL Central-leading Houston put closed within a half-game of second-place Chicago.

"We`re not there yet, we`re still in third place," McGwire said. "There`s no celebrating."

McGwire had just his second game of the season with three or more hits, his first since going 4-for-5 on June 15 against the Chicago White Sox. It`s the first time he`s had two singles in a game since then.

"My year has stunk so far," said McGwire, who has 21 homers. "If I can finish up the rest of the year and help out, it`d be great. But the team is winning without me, so that`s the way it goes."

He beat an overshifted defense when he grounded an RBI single to right in the second for a 1-0 lead.

"I was trying to be Ichiro," McGwire said, referring to Seattle rookie Ichiro Suzuki. "They say he looks where he wants to hit the ball, and for some time I haven`t been looking. I looked up and said `There`s nobody there, so I`m going to try to do it.` "

McGwire walked in the fourth, singled and scored on Matheny`s RBI single off David Coggin (4-2) to make it 3-0 in the sixth, then hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh as the Cardinals went ahead 4-0. McGwire added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

McGwire, who also gloved Johnny Estrada`s shoetop liner near the first-base bag to end the fourth, did not start the first two games of the three-game sweep. He entered in a 1-for-13 slump and was hitting .185 overall.

Philadelphia has lost four straight for the fifth time this season, the first time since July 27-31. The Phillies remained one game behind Atlanta, the NL East leader.

"We`ve got to play better or we`ll get buried," manager Larry Bowa said.

Morris won his fourth straight start, allowing five hits, striking out four and walking two. He`s 12-2 with a 1.71 ERA at home, going 11-1 in his last 12 starts, but he`s 4-5 and 5.27 on the road.

Edgar Renteria went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI single in the fourth, and Jim Edmonds doubled, singled and scored twice.

Coggin, who had been 3-0 in August with a 2.75 ERA, allowed three runs and nine hits in six innings.

Albert Pujols had an RBI double in the seventh as St. Louis swept the Phillies for the first time since April 28-30 last year and for the first time at Busch Stadium since April 17-19, 1998.

Jose Mesa and Bowa were ejected in the eighth after Mesa threw a pitch behind Edmonds` head and then hit Edmonds in the back on a 1-2 pitch. Mesa refused to comment.

"I think he was angry because the umpire basically tested his intelligence," Bowa said. "If he got warned the first time and he really wanted to hit him, why wouldn`t he hit him with the next pitch?"

Notes: Early in the game, an airplane with the banner "Save the Cards – Fire La Russa" circled Busch Stadium. It was curious timing, considering the team`s recent surge. ... Travis Lee, who singled his first two at-bats, had been 2-for-16 against Cardinals pitching this season. ... Renteria is batting .359 (28-for-78) his last 22 games. ... The Phillies had homered in nine straight games, a season high. ... Edmonds was 9-for-22 (.409) on the homestand with two homers and eight RBIs. LHP Steve Kline worked a scoreless eighth, extending his streak to a major league best 23 without allowing a run since July 3. ... The Cardinals completed a 7-0 homestand, their second perfect stand this season. They also were 7-0 from May 7-13. ... During their 12-game winning streak in 1982, the Cardinals beat the Pirates twice at home, won three at Chicago, three at home against the Phillies, two more at Pittsburgh and two at Philadelphia. The streak ended with an 8-4 loss to the Phillies` Steve Carlton on April 25.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News