Giants Go 14 to Take First

Bill Mueller ended another marathon between the Giants and Cardinals with a 14th-inning RBI single for a 5-4 victory Saturday night that extended San Francisco’s winning streak to eight games.

Brent Mayne walked off Sean Lowe (0-2) to start the 14th and advanced on a sacrifice. Darryl Hamilton also walked before Mueller, who was two for seven, dumped a single into center that barely brought home Mayne in time.

Rich Rodriguez (1-0), San Francisco’s seventh pitcher, worked three scoreless innings as the Giants moved into first place in the NL West, a game ahead of San Diego. The winning streak is their longest since they won nine in a row in April of 1997.

San Francisco won despite stranding 19 runners, including seven in the 11th, 12th and 13th. But Giant relievers limited the Cardinals to three singles in the final eight innings.

The five-hour nine-minute game was the third in extra innings in nine meetings between the teams, with previous marathons of 17 and 12 innings.

Mark McGwire, who hit his major league-leading 28th home run Friday, had a quiet 0-for-3 night largely due to the Giants’ respect for his dangerous bat. He drew three intentional walks, the last with one out and nobody on by Rodriguez in the 13th. McGwire has drawn 11 intentional walks, one fewer than National League leader Barry Bonds.