McGee Gives La Russa New Prospective
Forgive Tony La Russa if he loses his perspective. Losing six games to start the season will do that for a manager.
Putting your name in the record book as being in charge of the ignominious St. Louis Cardinals certainly will.
That’s Cardinals, as in worst start in the 106-year history of the franchise.
But with one swing Tuesday night in St. Louis, Willie McGee put all of their troubles behind them.
McGee’s pinch-hit home run with two out in the ninth inning gave the Cardinals a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Expos and had La Russa babbling.
And McGee calmly taking it all in.
“That was more dramatic than ‘The Natural,’ ” La Russa said. “And that was a made-up movie. I don’t know how he did it.”
McGee, 38, scoffed at the cinematic reference.
“That’s a movie, that’s fantasy,” he said. “I work hard and every now and then, things work out.”
McGee has won two batting titles and entered the season with a .298 lifetime average in 15 seasons. But before Tuesday, he’d never hit a game-winning home run.
“That’s the last thing on my mind,” McGee said. “You dream of things like that, but I’m not that kind of a hitter.”
McGee connected off Ugueth Urbina’s first-pitch changeup for his 74th lifetime home run.
Urbina (1-1) said he knew McGee liked to hit the first pitch.
“I hung it a little bit,” he said. “In the cold weather, it’s hard to grip the ball.”
The Cardinals’ 0-6 start included a three-game, season-opening sweep at Montreal. A crowd of 47,542 saw the NL Central champions win their home opener and send the Expos to their fourth loss in a row.
Reliever Mark Petkovsek (1-1) gave up two hits and struck out three in four scoreless innings for St. Louis.
“Petkovsek was outstanding,” La Russa said. “I think there were only one or two balls hit hard. He really shut them down and gave us a chance to squeak one out.”
Florida 5, Chicago 3--Going to Chicago didn’t help the Cubs, who have matched their worst start ever and are as cold as the one-degree wind chill that greeted them in their home opener.
And going to Chicago certainly didn’t hurt the Marlins, who before Tuesday had never been five games over .500, and carry their heat with them, in this case in the bat of Charles Johnson, whose two-out, two-run double off Steve Trachsel (0-2) powered the victory.
To avoid breaking the record for futility set by the 1962 club, the Cubs must win Thursday against the same Florida team that has beaten them four times this season.
Trachsel took a three-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up Bobby Bonilla’s leadoff single. One out later, Bonilla stole second and went to third on catcher Scott Servais’ bad throw, the Cubs’ 12th error this year.
Trachsel walked Devon White but struck out Jeff Conine, a .500 hitter, for out No. 2.
Johnson sent the ball down the left-field line to put Florida ahead, 4-3.
Al Leiter (2-0) allowed five hits and three runs in six innings, walked three and struck out six.
Atlanta 4, Houston 2--Tom Glavine pitched seven shutout innings at Atlanta to beat the Astros for the second time in five days, and Jeff Blauser went four for four.
Blauser had two doubles and two singles and needs hits in his next two at-bats to tie the NL and franchise records for consecutive hits. He also scored three runs.
Kenny Lofton and Chipper Jones each had two RBIs as the Braves won their fifth game in a row after opening the year with two losses in Houston.
Glavine (2-0) struck out four and walked two in his 300th start. The left-hander stranded two runners in the second, third, and fifth innings as the Braves improved to 4-0 at Turner Field.
Philadelphia 2, San Francisco 1--Mark Leiter gave up three hits in seven innings and rookie Scott Rolen singled home the go-ahead run at San Francisco.
Only 6,260 watched on an evening in which chilly winds gusted up to 50 mph. It was the Giants’ smallest home crowd since Oct. 1 1991, when 6,174 saw a game against Houston.
Leiter (1-1), formerly with the Giants, gave up an unearned run, walked three and struck out two.
Ricky Bottalico pitched 1 1/3 innings for his third save, striking out three. He has saved all three Phillies’ victories.
With the scored tied, 1-1, Philadelphia took the lead in the seventh inning with an unearned run off Osvaldo Fernandez (1-1).
Gregg Jefferies reached on shortstop Jose Vizcaino’s error and took second on Derrick May’s single. After Rico Brogna grounded into a double play, Rolen stroked a 3-and-2 pitch to center field, scoring Jefferies.
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BESTS OF THE DAY
BATTING
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Team’s Player Team Performance Result Jeff Blauser Atlanta 4 for 4, on 8-for-8 string Win Willie McGee St. Louis Solo HR in 9th gives Cardinals 1st win Win John Olerud New York 4 for 4, 2 runs, 1 RBI Win
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PITCHING
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Team’s Player Team Performance Result Steve Cooke Pittsburgh 7 innings, 1 hit, 1st win in 3 years Win Mark Petkovsek St. Louis 4 innings in relief, Win 0 runs, 3 strikeouts Tom Glavine Atlanta 7 innings, 4 hits, ERA now 1.29 Win
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