Cardinals Are Back in First

It may have not been good stuff, but Todd Stottlemyre had the right stuff in leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday at St. Louis.

The victory, combined with a loss by Houston, put the Cardinals in first place by one game in the Central Division.

Stottlemyre (11-8) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning when Devon White singled with one out. He gave up four hits and three earned runs in the inning and was lifted, but St. Louis answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

“Today was a day when I didn’t feel like I had my real good stuff,” Stottlemyre said.

Said catcher Tom Pagnozzi: “He never thinks he has good stuff. The key is to get him through the first two unscathed, if you can do that, he usually has a good game.”

Gary Gaetti hit a solo homer in the second inning and Brian Jordan’s bases-loaded single keyed a four-run seventh inning for the Cardinals.

Gary Sheffield hit his 35th home run off of Stottlemyre but hit into a bases-loaded double play in the ninth to end the game. Dennis Eckersley loaded those bases with one out, but the double play gave him his 21st save.

Chicago 10, Houston 8--Pinch-hitter Leo Gomez’s three-run double highlighted the Cubs’ six-run sixth inning that led to the victory at Chicago. Dave Magadan, Luis Gonzalez, Scott Servais and Jose Hernandez each had three hits for the Cubs.

It was Houston’s sixth loss in its last 15 games.

Jaime Navarro (12-9) won his fifth consecutive start despite committing three errors in the third inning, which helped the Astros take a 5-0 lead.

Cincinnati 9, Colorado 4--Kevin Mitchell’s three-run home run and Joe Oliver’s three-run double powered the Reds to their third victory over the Rockies in 24 hours at Cincinnati.

The Reds were a little too showy for Colorado Manager Don Baylor’s tastes. With one game left in their series at Riverfront Stadium, he already was looking ahead to a rematch at Coors Field next week.

“When they come to our ballpark, we’ll find out who the cheerleaders are,” Baylor said. “I’m taking notes. We’ll start swinging the bats well. We’ve got a couple of guys struggling now.”

Philadelphia 7, San Francisco 6--Rookie Wendell Magee Jr. had two hits and drove in two runs as the Phillies rallied to avert a series sweep at Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, which ended a 10-game homestand with only two victories, scored five unearned runs to give Mark Gardner (10-5) his first day-game loss in eight decisions this season.

Barry Bonds hit his 34th homer of the season and his 24th career homer at Veterans Stadium.

Dax Jones hit his first major league homer, an inside-the-park shot that Ricky Otero misjudged. Otero sustained facial bruises diving for the ball.

Atlanta 2, Pittsburgh 1--Chipper Jones singled home the winning run in the 14th inning at Atlanta.

“I’d left nine or 10 guys on base,” Jones said. “I’d missed several good pitches and gone 0-for-6. But it turned out to be a good ending to a lousy day. That last one found a hole.”

Marquis Grissom, whose hitting streak is at 23 games, singled with one out and Andruw Jones hit a grounder that second baseman Jeff King misplayed. Chipper Jones followed with a single up the middle off Francisco Cordova (2-7).