McGwire Plays 52 Pickup With Ruth Mark

As he closes in on Roger Maris’ record, Mark McGwire took care of one of Babe Ruth’s too.

McGwire broke Ruth’s record for homers in three consecutive seasons with his 52nd this year as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 14-4, Saturday night at Pittsburgh.

McGwire has 33 games to match Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers, set in 1961. He powered a 0-2 pitch by Francisco Cordova into the stands in right-center field in the first inning, a 477-foot drive that was the longest in Three Rivers Stadium this season. It was only his third opposite-field homer all season.

McGwire has 162 homers in three seasons, including 52 in 1996 and 58 in 1997. Ruth hit 161 from 1926-28.

“What can I say? I’ve surpassed anything I ever expected,” McGwire said. “Obviously, it means a lot, but I can’t let myself think about it because I’ve got to come back tomorrow.”

McGwire became the first NL player to reach 52 homers since George Foster for the Cincinnati Reds in 1977. He also set a NL record for most homers by a first baseman in one season. Johnny Mize hit 51 in 1947. McGwire’s 52 homers are the most before September.

Before homering, McGwire was only six for 28 with one homer against the Pirates. They seemed intent on pitching around him during a homerless three-game series in St. Louis last weekend. Pirate Manager Gene Lamont grew testy discussing the subject.

“We weren’t trying to walk him,” Lamont said. “Don’t get me wrong, our pitchers don’t want Mark McGwire to hit home runs off them, but they want him to have a legitimate chance to set the record. But they’re not going to go out there and say, ‘Here, knock the heck out of it.’ ”

New York 9, Arizona 4--Mike Piazza hit his major league-leading fourth grand slam, made a sliding catch into the Diamondback dugout and threw out a runner trying to steal in leading the Mets at New York.

Piazza hit the Mets’ first slam of the year, igniting a six-run second inning against Andy Benes (11-12).

Houston 8, Chicago 3--Randy Johnson gave up two hits in seven innings for his fourth victory in five starts with the Astros and Moises Alou went four for five with his 37th home run as the Astros won at Chicago.

Sammy Sosa was hitless in five at-bats--0 for three against Johnson--leaving him with 49 homers.

Philadelphia 6, Colorado 1--Paul Byrd pitched a five-hitter, and the Phillies scored five runs in the fifth inning for the victory at Philadelphia.

It was the Phillies’ 17th complete game of the season, third in the majors behind Atlanta (21) and the New York Yankees (19).

Milwaukee 8, San Diego 4--Rookie Rafael Roque got his first major league victory despite giving up three solo homers at Milwaukee.

Roque (1-1) gave up seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, including the homers to Quilvio Veras, Greg Vaughn (his 41st) and Ruben Rivera.

San Francisco 5, Florida 4--Pinch-hitter Marvin Benard’s run-scoring single capped a three-run rally in the ninth inning, and Jeff Kent hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th to give the Giants the victory at Miami.

The Giants, trailing, 4-1, scored three times with two out in the ninth against Antonio Alfonseca.

Barry Bonds, who needs one home run to become the first player to hit 400 homers and steal 400 bases, went one for three with two walks.