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  Sunday, May 21 1:35pm ET
McGwire hits 540th of career
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals were outhomered for one of the few times this season. Unlike the past few seasons, that doesn't mean they got outscored.

Mark McGwire hit a two-run homer -- the 540th of his career -- and drove in three runs as the Cardinals, who lead the majors in homers, overcame four Pittsburgh homers to beat the Pirates 7-5 on Sunday.

Career HR leaders
  Player Homers
1. Hank Aaron 755
2. Babe Ruth 714
3. Willie Mays 660
4. Frank Robinson 586
5. Harmon Killebrew 573
6. Reggie Jackson 563
7. Mike Schmidt 548
8. x-Mark McGwire 540
9. Mickey Mantle 536
10. Jimmie Foxx 534
  x-player is still active

Placido Polanco, making a spot start for Fernando Vina at second base, had three hits and three RBIs as the Cardinals outscored the Pirates 26-9 in winning twice after losing the series opener 13-1.

St. Louis took over the NL Central lead by one game as the Reds lost to the Cubs 4-2.

"We don't win that game without Polanco having a monster game," manager Tony La Russa said. "One of the things that makes for a good year is consistency. You try to win series. But that's the hard way, the way we did it."

McGwire's drive into the third-level private boxes on a 2-0 slider by Todd Ritchie in the first inning was estimated at 444 feet -- average by McGwire's standards -- and followed Ray Lankford's one-out walk. It was the Cardinals' 89th homer.

McGwire's major league-leading 18th homer and fourth in four games left him eight behind Mike Schmidt, who ranks eighth all-time with 548 homers.

McGwire didn't take batting practice, just as he didn't before hitting three homers Thursday in Philadelphia or two homers the Sunday before against the Dodgers.

"I've always said batting practice is overrated," said McGwire, whose pregame hitting sessions always draw huge throngs of fans who expect a torrent of homers. "If you're playing every day, all you have to do is your (indoor) cage work, see the ball and get loose.

"I've been doing that for years. When I go out there and have to deal with what I have to deal with every day with the fans, you have to take a break every once in a while."

Brian Giles, quietly enjoying another excellent season, answered McGwire's shot with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first -- his 12th homer and eighth in 24 games.

Giles, who signed a $45 million contract extension on Friday, has 44 RBI and is on pace for 170 RBI.

But Andy Benes (4-2) effectively shut down the Pirates after that, retiring 12 consecutive batters until Luis Sojo hit a solo homer, his fourth, with two outs in the seventh.

The final two Pirates homers came against the Cardinals' bullpen, with Jason Kendall hitting his third off Mike James in the eighth and Pat Meares homering off Dave Veres in the ninth.

"The homers are nice, but they don't mean as much sometimes if there aren't runners on base," Meares said.

Veres pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his eighth save, striking out Ivan Cruz with two on and two outs in the eighth.

Despite surrendering the two homers, Benes improved his career record in Three Rivers Stadium to 8-3, striking out five and walking one in seven innings.

"We feel like if we give up three or four runs, we still have a good chance to win," Benes said. "There aren't going to be too many games where we are completely shut down."

The Cardinals retook the lead with the help of some more shaky play by a Pirates defense that has committed five errors in its last two games.

J.D. Drew and Edgar Renteria singled to start the fourth against Ritchie (2-3), who allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Ritchie struck out the next two batters, and appeared to get out of the inning when Polanco bounced a slow-hit grounder over the mound.

But shortstop Meares and second baseman Warren Morris nearly collided as each failed to make the play, scoring Drew as Polanco was credited with an RBI single. Ritchie walked Lankford and McGwire in succession to force in another run, making it 4-2.

"We haven't made the plays we need to," Morris said. "I'm not talking about the great plays, I'm talking about the routine ones. We were both being aggressive in going after the ball, I took off and I didn't see him until the last minute. Good teams like them make you pay for that."

Eli Marrero tripled and scored on Polanco's single in the sixth and had an RBI triple in a two-run eighth off reliever Scott Sauerbeck that made it 7-3. Polanco went 5-for-8 in the final two games of the series.

The Pirates finished 2-4 in a week-long stretch against the teams ahead of them in the NL Central, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The Cardinals took over the division lead by one game as the Reds lost to the Cubs 4-2.

Game notes
Wil Cordero of the Pirates went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 14 games (26-for-57). But Cordero, whose base running has been shaky all season, got trapped off second on Cruz's single, ending the first inning and costing Meares a chance to bat with two on. ... McGwire, who missed a grand slam by a few feet in Saturday's 19-4 victory, has 12 homers in 25 games. ... Vina left Saturday's game after fouling a ball off his right shin and will be reexamined Monday. ... Ritchie has allowed 14 earned runs in 13 1-3 innings in three starts after pitching into the seventh inning in each of his first six starts. ... The Pirates recalled RHP Rich Loiselle from his rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Altoona and activated him off the 60-day disabled list. RHP Mike Garcia was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.
 


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RECAPS
Detroit 7
Boston 5

Cleveland 6
NY Yankees 1

Chi. White Sox 2
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Kansas City 10
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Oakland 13
Minnesota 4

Seattle 8
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Texas 6
Baltimore 5

Los Angeles 12
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Houston 3

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St. Louis 7
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San Francisco 16
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Chicago Cubs 4
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