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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals are about to get what
they wanted, a chance to wrap up the NL Central without needing
help.
|  | | Chris Truby smacked a three-run homer in the 10th inning Tuesday to lift the Astros past the Cardinals. |
Manager Tony La Russa and his players didn't take an 8-6,
10-inning loss to the Houston Astros Tuesday night too hard. About
an hour later, the second-place Reds lost 7-3 to San Francisco to
reduce the Cardinals' magic number to one for clinching their first
division title since 1996.
They clinched a tie for the title with 11 games to go.
"Hopefully we'll get a chance tomorrow and that'll be it, and
all this talk will be over," Jim Edmonds said.
Closer Dave Veres, who gave up a game-tying RBI double to Jeff
Bagwell with two outs in the ninth, was looking forward to the
occasion. On Tuesday, the Cardinals needed both a victory and a
loss by the Reds to clinch.
"It's almost better," Veres said. "It's not better blowing a
game, but tomorrow we can do it on the field, maybe."
Chris Truby's three-run homer in the 10th off Gene Stechschulte
gave the Astros five straight victories and ended the Cardinals'
seven-game winning streak. A crowd of 39,155 was the team's 33rd
sellout, tying the club record set in 1988, but the fans cleared
out quickly after Truby's homer.
"They're eventually going to win it, but we don't want them to
win while we're here," said Truby, whose throwing error at third
base helped the Cardinals take a 5-4 lead in the eighth. "So we're
going to try to do what we can and just go out there and play good
baseball for the next two games."
The Cardinals didn't give up easily. Craig Paquette hit an RBI
double off Octavio Dotel (3-5) and the Cardinals had the bases
loaded before Jose Cabrera retired Mike Matheny on a fly ball just
short of the warning track in left for his second save.
"We've done that all year long, but that's one of those empty
moral things," La Russa said. "They had the game to win and
didn't win it."
Alan Benes (2-2) walked two of three batters he faced in the
10th.
Richard Hidalgo hit his 40th homer, drove in two runs and was
3-for-5 for Houston. He joined Bagwell (44) as the only 40-homer
duo in franchise history.
Ray Lankford homered for the Cardinals, and he and Will Clark
each had two RBIs.
Mitch Meluskey's RBI double off Jason Christiansen tied it at 4
in the Astros' eighth.
Two errors by the Astros to open the eighth put Cardinals
runners on second and third. Edmonds reached on second baseman Bill
Spiers' bad throw and Truby then threw wildly to second in a force
attempt on Paquette's grounder.
After Edmonds was thrown out at the plate on Fernando Tatis'
grounder, Lankford singled off Joe Slusarski for the go-ahead run.
Clark, who was almost scratched before the game due to flu-like
symptoms, had a two-run single off Wade Miller in the first as the
Cardinals took a 3-1 lead. Clark was replaced at first base by
Paquette after three innings.
Hidalgo had an RBI single in the first and homered with one out
in the third to cut the gap to 3-2. Lankford hit his 24th homer
leading off the fourth for the Cardinals.
Cardinals starter Pat Hentgen allowed three runs on 10 hits in
seven innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Miller, who had
won three of his previous four starts, lasted six innings and gave
up three earned runs on six hits.
Game notes
The three-run first boosted the Cardinals' run total to 142
in that inning. They've given up 83 runs in the first. ... Fernando
Vina, returning to the lineup after missing 14 games with a broken
rib, was hit by a pitch for a career-high 26th time by Miller in
the fifth. He was hit 25 times with the Brewers in 1998. ...
Bagwell has scored 146 runs, tying the Astros record set by Craig
Biggio in 1997. ... The Cardinals have hit 223 homers, tying the
franchise record set in 1998. ... Hentgen is 2-0 in four starts
this month with a 2.17 ERA. ... Roger Cedeno was 4-for-5 with a
sacrifice for the Astros.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 7
Baltimore 4
Oakland 0
Baltimore 0
(2nd game)
Boston 7
Cleveland 4
Chi. White Sox 6
Detroit 2
Toronto 16
NY Yankees 3
Seattle 5
Tampa Bay 2
Kansas City 5
Anaheim 1
Minnesota 15
Texas 7
Florida 3
Montreal 1
Pittsburgh 12
Philadelphia 8
Atlanta 12
NY Mets 4
Milwaukee 9
Chicago Cubs 8
Houston 8
St. Louis 6
San Diego 7
Colorado 2
Los Angeles 1
Arizona 0
San Francisco 7
Cincinnati 3
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