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Wednesday, Sep. 13 7:05pm ET
Injured McGwire better than no McGwire | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Mark McGwire is playing on one leg and getting just one plate appearance per game, and he's still helping the St. Louis Cardinals win. McGwire, hobbled by a sore knee, grounded a single into the left-field corner that started a two-run first inning and sent the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-5, Wednesday night. The Cardinals completed a three-game sweep and cut their magic number for clinching the NL Central to seven over Cincinnati. "I like single digits," first baseman Will Clark said. McGwire, listed in the starting lineup as the Cardinals' shortstop and No. 2 hitter, singled off Todd Ritchie (8-8). "It was a good pitch, too," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He hit a very good slider." The ball rolled into the corner and would have been a double for most players. McGwire is slowed by patella tendinitis in his right knee, a condition that sidelined him for more than two months. Because McGwire is unable to play in the field, La Russa has manipulated his lineup to get him to the plate in the first inning of six consecutive road games. The slugging first baseman is 2-for-5 with a home run since the plan went into effect last Friday. Now the Cardinals return home and LaRussa isn't sure what he's going to do. "He's going to come out early so we can give him simulated games," La Russa said. "But he cannot play in the field." As far as getting into actual games, La Russa said he might start a player like rookie outfielder like Luis Saturria and let him play in the field for a couple of innings. Then he would have McGwire take Saturria's first at-bat and put an established player like Ray Lankford or Shawon Dunston in the spot. The other choice is to save McGwire for late-inning pinch hitting situations. "He's getting some at-bats and getting to the point where he's dangerous in pinch hitting situations," La Russa said. McGwire waved reporters away from his locker, saying, "I didn't do anything." Rick Ankiel (9-7) matched his career high for strikeouts with 11 in 6 2/3 innings. He has two wins in his last 10 starts, both over Pittsburgh. In the first, Jim Edmonds followed with a single, and he and pinch-runner Placido Polanco scored on Will Clark's double. The Pirates, who have lost five straight games, tied it in the first on Keith Osik's two-run double. Both runs were unearned because of second baseman Craig Paquette's two-out error. Infield grounders by Ankiel and J.D. Drew scored runs in the fourth for a 4-2 lead. Lankford had an RBI single in the fifth and Mike Matheny hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2. Edmonds singled in a run in the sixth and Dunston hit a two-run homer, his 12th, in the seventh. Dunston came into the game to replace Lankford, who slightly strained his right hamstring running to first base on a single. "I just felt it grab," Lankford said. "I should be OK in a day or two." Adrian Brown hit RBI singles in the fifth and seventh for Pittsburgh. The Pirates had the bases loaded with nobody out in the eighth but got just one run when John Wehner grounded into a double play. "We had something going with our (eight-game) winning streak," Brown said. "We were playing good ball. Then we lose five in a row. It's frustrating. All this losing is getting pretty old." Game notesMcGwire has been officially listed as the Cardinals' starting second baseman, right fielder and shortstop since La Russa started his plan. Wednesday was his first appearance as the shortstop. ... Aside from the two wins over the Pirates, Ankiel has two losses and six no-decisions in his last 10 starts. ... Ritchie had won three of his last four decisions. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard St. Louis Clubhouse Pittsburgh Clubhouse RECAPS Minnesota 7 Oakland 6
St. Louis 9
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