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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Rick Ankiel put the worst start of his budding
career out of his mind, and looked like a phenom again instead of a
mixed-up kid.
|  | | Rick Ankiel struck out 11 Marlins batters. |
Ankiel struck out a career-high 11 and Jim Edmonds and Craig
Paquette homered as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida
Marlins 7-6 to finish a three-game sweep Thursday.
The Cardinals won their season-high fifth in a row. The Marlins
lost their seventh straight despite four solo home runs.
Ankiel (4-2) surrendered seven runs in 2 2/3 innings in a loss
at Pittsburgh last Friday. In 6 2/3 innings against Florida, the
20-year-old rookie allowed seven hits, and he didn't walk a batter
for the first time in his career.
His strategy between starts?
"Forget about it," he said. "Forget about it as much as you
can. Just like today, I'll forget about today.
"You've got to go out and do your thing next time. What does it
matter?"
Ankiel topped his previous strikeout high of 10 against
Milwaukee April 9. He fanned cleanup hitter Preston Wilson and Alex
Gonzalez three times apiece.
"I've always been an admirer of his since I saw him pitch in
high school," Marlins manager John Boles said. "He's going to be
an outstanding pitcher, for sure."
Wilson, who leads the majors with 69 strikeouts, wasn't that
impressed.
"I think he threw the ball well, but he makes a lot of mistakes
out there," Wilson said. "He gives you pitches to hit. He just
came in on a day where his team scored seven runs."
Edmonds' 15th homer was a three-run shot in a five-run third
against Reid Cornelius (0-1). Paquette hit a two-run homer in the
inning.
Edmonds also doubled and scored on a single by Ray Lankford in
the first and singled and scored on Paquette's sacrifice fly in the
fourth. Edmonds missed a chance for the cycle when he struck out in
the sixth, but he didn't liked his odds for a triple anyway.
"I was really having a lot of problems with my left leg and
just wanted to finish the game," Edmonds said. "It's just one of
those things that wasn't 100 percent and I wasn't going to try to
leg out anything."
Mark McGwire was silent, ending a streak of homering in three
straight games. He walked three times, once intentionally, giving
him six walks in the series, and struck out in his only official
at-bat.
The Cardinals swept the Marlins for the first time since Aug.
31-Sept. 2, 1998, at Florida and stretched their winning streak to
a season-best five games. The NL Central leaders also moved 10
games above .500 for the first time this season.
Kevin Millar, Derrek Lee, Cliff Floyd and Wilson homered for the
Marlins.
Floyd and Wilson hit back-to-back homers to begin the eighth
against Mike James, cutting the gap to 7-6. James has surrendered
six homers in 15 innings.
Dave Veres got the last six outs for his ninth save in 11
chances.
"In the seventh inning it was pretty relaxing out in the
bullpen," Veres said. "The next thing you know, it's a one-run
game."
Cornelius, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Calgary,
lasted only 3 1/3 innings. He allowed seven runs on eight hits.
"It was exciting, but it was disappointing that it didn't go as
well as I liked," Cornelius said. "I let the game get out of hand
early."
Pinch-hitter Chris Clapinski chased Ankiel with an RBI single in
the seventh and Luis Castillo added a run-scoring single to cut the
gap to 7-4.
Game
notes
Floyd also doubled in the fourth and has at least one
extra-base hit in five straight games. ... All of Lee's six homers
have come with the bases empty. ... Lankford is the Busch Stadium
career home run record-holder with 102 in 657 games. McGwire is
second with 100 in 202 games. ... Starters have 25 of the
Cardinals' 28 victories, more than any other team. ... The
Cardinals have a major league-leading 96 homers in 46 games. They
need four the next four games to tie Seattle's 1999 major league
record of 100 in their first 50 games. St. Louis reached 100 homers
in 78 games in 1998, McGwire's record 70-homer season. ... Ankiel
hasn't allowed a homer to a left-handed batter in 85 1/3 career
innings.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Anaheim 3
Minnesota 1
Baltimore 5
Seattle 1
Toronto 11
Boston 6
Cleveland 4
Detroit 1
Oakland 6
Tampa Bay 3
NY Yankees 7
Chi. White Sox 0
Texas 5
Kansas City 3
Atlanta 7
Milwaukee 3
St. Louis 7
Florida 6
Chicago Cubs 6
Colorado 5
San Francisco 4
Montreal 1
Houston 10
Philadelphia 6
Arizona 7
Pittsburgh 5
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