Cardinal Futility Reaches a Record 0-6

It’s not time to panic for the St. Louis Cardinals. But it is time for them to go home, and they couldn’t be happier about that.

The Cardinals stumbled to the worst start in their 106-year history with a 3-2 loss to the Astros on Sunday.

The defeat dropped the NL Central champions to 0-6, with all of the losses on the road. The Cardinals, who had lost their first five games in four previous seasons, joined the Chicago Cubs as the only winless teams in the majors.

“It’s going to be real good to be home again, that’s for sure.” Cardinal outfielder Brian Jordan said.

The Cardinals have a day off to contemplate their historic start before playing host to Montreal on Tuesday. By then, St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa hopes his players will have forgotten their dismal start.

“It’s just a week into the season,” La Russa said. “I don’t want to send the wrong message to these guys. We have been competitive in all the games, so what does that tell you? It says we’re close to being a good team.”

St. Louis was close to a victory Sunday, leading, 2-1, in the eighth inning. Then pinch-hitter Jeff Bagwell, who had not started to get a day of rest, hit a two-out, two-run double.

Ray Montgomery led off the Houston eighth by reaching on shortstop Royce Clayton’s throwing error. Two outs later, John Frascatore (0-1) walked Bill Spiers.

Bagwell, batting for Tim Bogar, hit a double into the left-field corner for a 3-2 lead. It was the second time in three games that Bagwell had driven home the go-ahead run in the Astros’ last at-bat.

Philadelphia 3, San Diego 2--Curt Schilling capped an eventful first week with his second victory of the season, and the Phillies avoided a three-game sweep by defeating the Padres at San Diego.

Darren Daulton, Derrick May and Wendell Magee homered for the Phillies, whose only two victories are by Schilling. The right-hander gave up two hits in eight innings Tuesday at Los Angeles and agreed the following day to a $15.45 million, three-year contract extension.

Schilling gave up two runs in the first two innings, including Quilvio Veras’ leadoff homer, then shut out San Diego the rest of the way retiring 16 of the last 18 batters.

San Diego starter Joey Hamilton (1-1) gave up three homers, giving him four in two starts.

Atlanta 11-4, Chicago 5-0--Greg Maddux gave up three hits in eight innings, speeding the Braves past the Cubs at Atlanta in only 1 hour, 47 minutes--the fastest major league game in five years.

Earlier, the Braves defeated the Cubs 11-5 in the completion of the game suspended by rain Saturday night.

Maddux (1-1) didn’t give up a hit until the fourth, didn’t walk a batter and 14 of his outs came on grounders. He threw 91 pitches before Mark Wohlers came on to pitch the ninth. It was the fastest nine-inning game in the majors since Houston and Los Angeles played a 1:44 game on Oct. 4, 1992.

Jeff Blauser, who struggled the past three seasons at shortstop for the Braves, went three for three.

Colorado 6, Montreal 2--Vinny Castilla homered for the second consecutive game and the Rockies completed their first sweep at Montreal.

Colorado, only 28-53 on the road last season, won its fourth consecutive game away from Coors Field. The Rockies’ longest road winning streak last year was three, and the team record is six set in 1993.

Castilla’s third home run gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the second. The Rockies hit 10 homers in the three-game series, including a club-record seven Saturday in a 15-3 romp.

Jim Bullinger (0-1) gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings. He walked five.

Kevin Ritz (1-1) gave up one run in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Florida 3, Cincinnati 2--Pitcher Kevin Brown drove in two runs and the Marlins took advantage of nine walks, including two with the bases loaded, to defeat the Reds at Miami.

Florida went ahead when reliever Scott Service walked Jeff Conine on a 3-2 pitch with two out and the bases loaded in the seventh. Service replaced John Smiley (1-1), who had walked the bases loaded.

Brown (2-0), who gave up only one hit in winning the Marlin opener, limited Cincinnati to six hits and two runs--one earned--in seven innings. The right-hander, who had a total of three runs batted in last season, drove in Florida’s first two runs with a bases-loaded walk and a single off the scoreboard.

The Marlins stranded 11 and had two runners tagged out at the plate, with left fielder Ruben Sierra assisting on both plays.

Smiley pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a career-high eight walks, including three to Gary Sheffield.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Kenny Lofton Atlanta 3 for 5, 2 RBI, double Win Javier Lopez Atlanta 3 for 4, 4 RBI, double, HR Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Greg Maddux Atlanta 8 innings, 3 hits, no runs, 5 strikeouts Kevin Ritz Colorado 6 2/3 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 5 strikeouts Curt Schilling Philadelphia 8 innings, 2 runs, 7 strikeouts

Player Team’s Result Greg Maddux Win Kevin Ritz Win Curt Schilling Win

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