McGwire Ends Homer Drought With Style

Mark McGwire is right back on track.

McGwire hit three home runs, breaking an eight-game homerless drought, as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Arizona Diamondbacks, 15-5, Tuesday night at St. Louis.

“I’ve just been feeling loose at the plate,” McGwire said. “It’s just a matter of seeing pitches to drive. That’s all there is to it.”

After tying Willie Mays’ major league record by homering in the first four games of the season, McGwire hadn’t homered since April 4. He has seven homers--all at Busch Stadium--and 22 RBIs.

However, he’s not worrying about his early-season accomplishments or chasing any records.

“You can’t think that way,” McGwire said. “It’s such a long season. Today’s over and done with. I’ll think about it and enjoy it on the way home, but tomorrow’s another day.”

McGwire hit a two-run homer in the third, a solo homer in the fifth and added another two-run shot in the eighth with a 462-footer off Barry Manuel. It was his first three-home run game since June 11, 1995, for Oakland against Boston.

However, McGwire admitted this one was special. His son, Matthew, was the Cardinals bat boy and McGwire was brought out of the Cardinals’ dugout after each homer by the 31,477 fans.

“I’ve had some great exciting games and years in Oakland,” McGwire said. “But this is on another level. It’s really thrilling.”

The Diamondbacks have lost six straight games and are 1-8 on their first road trip.

Brian Jordan homered and had four RBIs for the Cardinals.

Mike Busby (2-0) got the win in relief despite giving up a home run to Kelly Stinnett in the seventh that tied the score, 5-5.

Atlanta 6, Pittsburgh 0--Kevin Millwood, the unsung member of Atlanta’s rotation, pitched a one-hitter and had a career-high 13 strikeouts at Atlanta.

The Braves did all of their scoring on three homers, including a three-run shot in the sixth by Andruw Jones, who entered the game hitting .100 with no homers and just one RBI.

But this night belonged to Millwood, the 23-year-old fifth starter in Atlanta’s rotation who faced only two batters over the minimum.

He didn’t allow a baserunner until Jermaine Allensworth doubled to left-center on a hanging curve with one out in the fifth.

Allensworth moved to third on a fly out, but Pittsburgh’s best scoring chance ended when Freddy Garcia struck out.

Pittsburgh’s only other baserunner reached in the seventh when Jason Kendall was hit by a pitch.

San Francisco 13, San Diego 7--Barry Bonds homered for the second straight day to spark a seven-run fifth inning as the Giants rallied to defeat the Padres at San Francisco, ending the Padres’ eight-game winning streak.

Greg Vaughn hit two homers and drove in four runs as the Padres tied a team record by homering in their 10th consecutive game.

Charlie Hayes hit a three-run homer for the Giants, who have won four of five. Both Vaughn and Hayes connected in the first inning, which ended with the Padres ahead, 5-4.

Bonds, who hit his first homer of the season Monday, hit a two-run shot as the Giants sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth. J.T. Snow added a two-run single, Brian Johnson had an RBI single and Rey Sanchez had an RBI double.

Milwaukee 7, Montreal 4--John Jaha’s bases-loaded triple highlighted a five-run second inning and Scott Karl became the first Milwaukee pitcher to score a run since 1989 at Montreal.

Karl (2-0) was forced to leave the game in the seventh because of a bruised left hand after being struck by a line drive by Shane Andrews. Karl gave up four hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.

Karl singled in the second and came home on Jaha’s big hit. Karl scored the first run by a Milwaukee pitcher since Tom Filer against the New York Yankees on Aug. 14, 1989.