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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Hitting his first home run in more than two
months wasn't the tough part for Mark McGwire. Trotting around the
bases was.
|  | | Mark McGwire's knee still is so sore he barely can run the bases, but he had to Monday after a first-inning homer in his only plate appearance. |
McGwire homered in the first inning and Edgar Renteria hit a
tiebreaking single in the eighth, leading the St. Louis Cardinals
to an 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.
McGwire hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his 31st of the
season and first since July 1. He had been limited to one plate
appearance in each of the four games since he came off the disabled
list last week.
McGwire, sidelined from July 6-Sept. 8 with tendinitis in his
right knee, has been listed as a second baseman and has left each
time after batting in the top of the first.
"My knee is really bad," McGwire said. "Every time I put all
my weight on it by running, it bites and it feels like it's going
to tear."
McGwire said he's surprised that he's even able to endure the
pain enough to make a single plate appearance in a game. On the
road, he can bat once and sit. In home games, manager Tony La Russa
will save him for critical pinch-hitting situations.
"I'm not going to be able to play in the field the rest of the
year," McGwire said.
He struck out, popped up and was hit by a pitch during three
weekend games at Milwaukee.
La Russa said McGwire just missed on the first pitch he saw in
Milwaukee.
"It's amazing," La Russa said. "These at bats are good for
him. One is better than none."
"It's pretty obvious when you sit for nine weeks in the middle
of the season you're not feeling the greatest," McGwire said.
"You just go up there and try to do what you can. Anything I can
do to help the team, I'll enjoy it. I'm happy and surprised that
I'm even doing this. I didn't even think I'd get this far."
McGwire said the home run made him feel like he's part of the
team again.
"I don't like to contribute vocally, I like to contribute with
my bat," he said. "I'm just doing what I can right now and I'm
happy to be back in any capacity."
Garrett Stephenson (16-8) won for the fifth time in six
decisions, giving up four runs, seven hits and four walks in seven
innings. He retired the side in order just twice.
"His delivery was messed up," La Russa said. "He was all over
the place."
St. Louis, which overcame four RBIs from John Vander Wal, is 8-3
in September and had won 19 of its last 26.
With their 82nd loss, the Pirates were eliminated
from postseason contention and were assured of their eighth
consecutive losing year, the longest stretch of losing seasons
since 1949-57.
"I guess maybe it's fitting the Cardinals eliminated us,"
Vander Wal said. "They're going to places we want to go to. They
do all the things you're supposed to do. They pitch, they field and
they get timely hits."
With the score 4-4, Fernando Tatis singled off Ravelo
Manzanillo (2-2) leading off the eighth, took third on Ray
Lankford's single and scored when Renteria extended his hitting
streak to 11 games with a single.
Mike Matheny bunted into a double play before pinch-hitter
Thomas Howard blooped a ball to left that fell between Brian Giles
and Abraham Nunez for an RBI double.
Jeff Wallace walked Ray Lankford with the bases loaded in the
ninth and Renteria hit a sacrifice fly.
J.D. Drew opened the game with a double and McGwire drove Jose
Silva's 0-1 pitch over the center-field wall.
St. Louis stretched the lead to 4-0 in the second when Matheny
hit an RBI double and scored on Stephenson's single.
Vander Wal hit an RBI single in the third and tied it in the
fifth on a Vander Wal's 20th homer, a three-run drive.
Pittsburgh's Adrian Brown saved two runs when he leaped and
reached over the center-field fence to rob Placido Polanco of a
home run in the fourth.
Game notes
The Cardinals are 22 games over .500 for the fourth time
this season. ... St. Louis avoided losing consecutive games,
something that hasn't happened since Aug. 8-9 against Florida. The
Cardinals haven't lost consecutive road games since they were swept
in a three-game series at New York from July 28-30. ... Pirates
rookie first baseman Alex Hernandez broke a 0-for-13 slide with a
single in the fifth.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 4
NY Yankees 0
Chi. White Sox 10
Detroit 3
Baltimore 3
Anaheim 1
Oakland 5
Tampa Bay 1
Kansas City 6
Seattle 3
Philadelphia 5
Montreal 2
Montreal 7
Philadelphia 6
(2nd game)
Cincinnati 7
Chicago Cubs 6
St. Louis 8
Pittsburgh 4
Milwaukee 8
NY Mets 2
San Francisco 8
Houston 7
Los Angeles 6
Arizona 3
San Diego 7
Colorado 2
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