McGwire 32nd Homer Doesn’t Deter Astros

Fans at the Astrodome saw Mark McGwire hit his major league-leading 32nd home run, but several thousand didn’t stick around for the whole show.

Many of the 37,147 fans headed for the exits after McGwire flew out in his final at-bat in the eighth and missed Jeff Bagwell’s ninth-inning two-run homer and Brad Ausmus’ run-scoring single that rallied Houston to a 6-5 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night.

“I understand a lot of people come out to see Mark McGwire,” Bagwell said. “But they should be out here to see the Houston Astros play the St. Louis Cardinals. For them to leave after Mark’s last at-bat, I wouldn’t say it was a slap in the face, but unfortunately for them, they missed a good inning.”

The Astros noticed the fans’ departure after McGwire’s last at-bat.

“He’s putting fans in the stands,” said Carl Everett, who scored the go-ahead run for Houston. “They come to see him hit. Our job is to win and strike him out. He can keep putting fans in the seats and we can keep winning.”

The Astros trailed, 5-2, before rallying in the ninth against Jeff Brantley (0-4), who got his fourth blown save in 14 chances and gave up his third career homer to Bagwell.

Craig Biggio led off with a walk, stole second and moved to third on Bill Spiers’ bunt single. Derek Bell drove home Biggio with a sacrifice fly, and Bagwell hit Brantley’s next pitch over the left-field fence for his 11th homer.

One out later, Everett singled and reached second on right fielder Brian Jordan’s fielding error. Curtis King came on in relief and walked Ricky Gutierrez before Ausmus singled home Everett from second.

McGwire, who is averaging a homer every 6.7 at-bats this season, had gone 12 at-bats without one until he hit a line drive over the left-field scoreboard in the third inning to tie the score, 1-1.

“If I hit a home run and we don’t win, it doesn’t matter,” said McGwire, who increased his NL-leading RBI total to 81. “When you have a chance to be in two games and climb the ladder, especially against a team like Houston, it’s really tough to lose one like this. The true test is how we come back tomorrow.”

Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 1--Curt Schilling gave up only two hits at Philadelphia as the Phillies won their fourth in a row.

Schilling (7-7) struck out 10 and walked one as the Phillies swept a three-game series with the Pirates, who have lost five of their last six. Schilling leads the majors with seven complete games and 157 strikeouts. It was Schilling’s 10th game this season with 10 or more strikeouts and 39th of his career.

Schilling, who has gone at least seven innings in 15 of his 16 starts, also contributed at the plate, laying down a two-out bunt single that scored Bobby Abreu and gave the Phillies a two-run lead in the sixth.

Jason Kendall got both Pirate hits, a single in the first and a solo homer in the fourth.

Montreal 5, New York 4--Brad Fullmer’s run-scoring single with two out in the ninth off Mel Rojas gave the Expos the victory at Montreal.

Fullmer’s sinking liner fell in front of diving center fielder Brian McRae to score Shane Andrews, helping the Expos end a three-game losing streak.

McRae had tied the score in the top of the inning with a leadoff homer against Ugueth Urbina (4-2).

Atlanta 6, Florida 2--Greg Maddux pitched a four-hitter at Atlanta to become the majors’ first 10-game winner.

Maddux (10-2) held Florida to a pair of unearned runs as his earned-run average dropped to 1.62, second-best in the NL. The four-time Cy Young winner has given up two runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts and 14 of 16 this season.

It was Maddux’s fourth complete game of the season and the Braves’ third consecutive complete game, something they hadn’t done since 1995.

Arizona 4, Cincinnati 1--Jay Bell homered and drove in two runs and Devon White hit his first right-handed homer of the season at Cincinnati.

Arizona will try for its first three-game sweep in franchise history tonight.

The back-to-back wins are the first by the Diamondbacks since June 1-2. They’ve won as many as three in a row only twice during their inaugural season.

The Reds have lost four in a row and 12 of their last 15, falling a season-low 12 games under .500 at 30-42. During the four-game skid, Cincinnati has as many errors as runs--seven. The Reds lead the majors with 70 errors in 72 games.

Milwaukee 6, Chicago 5--John Jaha’s three-run homer in the seventh inning at Chicago defeated the Cubs, who couldn’t win despite another home run from Sammy Sosa and a pair of two-run shots by Jose Hernandez.

Sosa’s homer across Waveland Avenue in the fourth inning was his 16th homer in 18 games and 25th this year.

Bronswell Patrick (2-0), relieved in the second inning after starter Scott Karl sustained a groin injury, and gave up two hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings. Bob Wickman got the final four outs for his fifth save. Kevin Tapani (8-5) gave up 10 hits and six runs in seven innings for the loss.

With the score tied, 3-3, in the seventh, Fernando Vina reached first on a fielder’s choice. After striking out Mark Loretta, Tapani walked Jeromy Burnitz. That brought up Jaha, who took his first pitch deep into center field for the game-winning runs. It was Jaha’s fifth home run.

Sosa had tied the score with his home run. He has 12 homers this month, two shy of the Cubs’ June record set by Ryne Sandberg in 1990.