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  Tuesday, Apr. 25 8:10pm ET
McGwire HRs in third straight game
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mark McGwire is tied for the team lead in home runs, but says he is not the focus of media attention anymore.
Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire's six home runs this season are only a small part of St. Louis' power surge.

"You guys should be talking to other players on this team and, this year, it's happening," McGwire said after homering in the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday night.

McGwire hit his sixth home run of the year, but there were also home runs by Edgar Renteria and Ray Lankford. McGwire is tied withJim Edmonds for the team lead in home runs. "I've been saying for more than two years that I'm not the story on this team, maybe it's finally sinking in," McGwire said with a grin.

"I'm glad there are people to talk to that are hitting home runs besides me."

The other story was Darryl Kile (4-1), who struck out a season-high 10. Kile gave up a run in the first inning but he said he had confidence the Cardinals would come back.

"With this team, you have the feeling they will score and if you can keep it close, you're going to win," Kile said. McGwire, who missed nine games with a sore back, homered in the first, one out after a homer by Renteria off Brewers starter Jason Bere (2-2).

"Two pitches made the difference in the game," Brewers manager Davey Lopes said. "When it gets down to just two pitches making the difference, you've pitched a pretty good game."

McGwire now has six homers among his 12 hits, and the Cardinals have homered in 16 straight games. They extended their NL record for home runs in the month of April to 47 when Lankford hit a three-run homer in the eighth, and they are just two short of Cleveland's major league record set in 1997.

Kile gave up two runs on six hits and one walk in seven innings. He was 8-13 last season with Colorado.

"You give that club only two runs, you're pitching," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Milwaukee scored a run in the first on singles by Marquis Grissom and Mark Loretta and a sacrifice fly by Jeromy Burnitz.

Bere, who gave up four runs on six hits and four walks in six innings, beat the Cardinals 9-1 on April 7.

The Brewers have lost eight of 11 games, while the Cardinals have won six of 11.

Mike Matheny put the Cards ahead 3-1 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly after Bere walked the bases full. Kevin Barker closed it to 3-2 with a home run for the Brewers in the fifth.

Matheny drove in another run with a two-out single in the sixth after a single by Lankford and a walk to Fernando Tatis.

The Cardinals missed another opportunity to score when J.D. Drew was out at the plate in the second when Kile missed on a bunt attempt on a squeeze play.

Game notes
Lankford has 24 strikeouts in 63 at-bats and is 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position. ... Tatis had his streak of driving in at least one run in a game stopped at nine, one short of the team record set by Bill White in 1961. ... The Cardinals are 13-0 when they do not commit an error and 0-7 when they make an error. ... Geoff Jenkins is eight for his last 17 (.471) with three home runs and seven RBI. ... Burnitz is in a 4-for-25 (.160) slump.
 


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