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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Really, Ron Villone is not a strikeout pitcher.
|  | | Ron Villone's 16 strikeouts against St. Louis on Friday tied a franchise record. |
Try telling that to the St. Louis Cardinals after Villone fanned
16, tying a franchise record, in the Cincinnati Reds' 8-1 victory
Friday night.
Villone had no idea how he doubled his previous career strikeout
best.
"If I knew, I'd go to Vegas," said Villone, who entered the
game with 61 strikeouts in 132 innings. "I'm just thinking about
what I can do out there, like get groundballs.
"I was thinking all night, just get groundballs, and
fortunately enough they missed a lot of them," he said.
Villone (10-10) pitched a two-hitter. He topped the Cardinals
himself, getting three singles.
He tied the franchise strikeout record held by Jim Maloney
(1963) and Noodles Hahn (1901) for a nine-inning game. Maloney
holds the club record with 18 in an 11-inning game in 1965.
Villone's previous strikeout high was eight on Sept. 12, 1999.
"His stuff was moving, I'll tell you what," said Fernando
Vina, who struck out leading off the first inning. "He had it
going."
The NL Central champion Cardinals are tied with the Atlanta
Braves, who lost 4-2 to Colorado, for the second-best record in the
NL. San Francisco is two games ahead of both teams in the race for
home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Making his first start since Sept. 14, Villone allowed one hit
the first seven innings before Fernando Vina tripled to start the
eighth. He struck out the side in the first and fanned Fernando
Tatis four times.
Reds manager Jack McKeon replaced Pete Harnisch with Villone in
the rotation because he wanted to give Villone a chance to even his
record.
"The other guy pitching tomorrow (Osvaldo Fernandez) is coming
off rehab, and we want to get him some innings," McKeon said.
"Pete's got nothing to prove. These guys are fighting for their
lives."
Mark McGwire also struck out as a pinch-hitter for the last out
in the fifth with a runner on second. He's 4-for-13 since returning
from the disabled list.
Stephenson (16-9) missed his last start due to arm fatigue and a
12-day break didn't help. He gave up five runs, all on home runs,
on nine hits in five innings and has a 6.60 ERA in five September
starts.
Manager Tony La Russa, terse all day after losing catcher Mike
Matheny for the season with torn tendons in his right right finger,
was noncommittal about Stephenson's chances of making the
postseason rotation.
"What's the next question?" La Russa said. "That's a good
question to ask, but I don't have an answer for that. That's
something you reflect on, isn't it?"
Stephenson was upbeat considering the circumstances.
"I haven't heard a thing," Stephenson said. "So I'll wait
until I find out what's going on and we'll go from there."
Michael Tucker opened the game with his second straight leadoff
homer, his 15th overall, and Sean Casey added a two-run shot in the
first for a 3-0 lead.
Casey doubled with two outs in the third ahead of Alex Ochoa's
13th homer for a 5-0 lead.
The Cardinals' only hit the first seven innings was a leadoff
single in the second by Eric Davis. They scored in the fifth when
Edgar Renteria walked with two outs and scored when Eli Marrero's
line drive to center sailed under Tucker's glove and rolled to the
wall.
A sellout crowd of 46,152 was the Cardinals' 35th of the season
and gave them a season attendance record of 3,241,861. The previous
record was 3,225,334 last year.
The Reds added three runs in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk by
Chris Sexton, a sacrifice fly by Brian Hunter and an RBI single by
Ochoa.
Game notes
Villone threw 148 pitches. ... Villone was moved to the
bullpen after allowing 15 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings his
previous three starts, all losses. His last outing was in relief.
He allowed two runs, one earned, on Tuesday at Milwaukee. ...
Matheny cut himself with a hunting knife earlier in the day. The
knife was a birthday present Matheny had just opened. ... The
Cardinals have struck out a league-leading 1,241 times, breaking
last year's team record of 1,202. Jim Edmonds struck out both of
his at-bats, raising his team-record total to 166. ... The
Cardinals swung at strike three on Villone's first 13 strikeouts.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Baltimore 13
NY Yankees 2
Cleveland 8
Toronto 4
Detroit 1
Minnesota 0
Tampa Bay 8
Boston 6
Chi. White Sox 6
Kansas City 4
Anaheim 9
Seattle 3
Oakland 7
Texas 5
Florida 7
Philadelphia 1
Pittsburgh 8
Chicago Cubs 4
NY Mets 11
Montreal 2
Colorado 4
Atlanta 2
Milwaukee 13
Houston 3
Cincinnati 8
St. Louis 1
San Francisco 4
Arizona 3
Los Angeles 3
San Diego 0
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