McGwire Goes the Distance for Cardinals

Mark McGwire hit the longest home run in the 32-year history of Busch Stadium on Tuesday night--a 527-foot shot--and Delino DeShields hit a run-scoring single in the 10th inning that lifted St. Louis over Milwaukee, 6-5. Tony La Russa, the winningest active manager in the majors, got his 1,500th victory. The Brewers lost their fourth in a row.

McGwire’s three-run homer--his 14th--in the fifth inning broke his own stadium record, set with a 517-foot drive last Sept. 16 against the Dodgers. The longest home run of his career was measured at 538 feet last June 24 for Oakland.

Jeff Cirillo’s two-run homer in the Brewers ninth tied the score, 5-5. He homered off Jeff Brantley after Fernando Vina opened with a double.

David Howard opened the Cardinal 10th with a single and moved up on a sacrifice by Tom Pagnozzi, and DeShields singled off Doug Jones (2-2).

Mike Busby (4-0) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the victory.

McGwire connected off Paul Wagner after Royce Clayton singled and Ray Lankford walked, hitting a 1-and-2 pitch over the left-field scoreboard.

Atlanta 5, Cincinnati 1--The Braves tied a National League record by homering in their 24th consecutive game when Andres Galarraga hit his league-leading 15th home run at Cincinnati.

The Braves matched the mark set by the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers as Galarraga hit a solo shot off Scott Sullivan in the eighth inning.

The major league record is 25 games by the 1941 New York Yankees and the 1994 Detroit Tigers.

It was a benchmark game all around for the Braves, who have won 13 of their last 15 games and lead the majors in victories. Their 28-11 record is the best start in franchise history.

John Smoltz (4-0) held the Reds to four hits and striking out six in eight innings. He also singled and scored and made a nice defensive play to cut down a run at the plate.

Smoltz was hit in the lower back by a pitch from Sullivan in the eighth inning, when the Braves scored twice to make the score 5-1. He stayed in the game for one more inning.

There was nothing unusual about Smoltz dominating the Reds. The right-hander is 8-0 in his last 10 starts against Cincinnati.

David Weathers (2-2) prevented the Braves from hitting a homer, but left trailing, 3-1, after five innings.

Houston 4, Florida 2--Derek Bell and Craig Biggio homered and Sean Bergman pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings as the Astros won their fourth consecutive game at Houston.

Moises Alou went three for three against his former team for the Astros, who are 17-5 in their last 22.

Bergman (3-2) gave up two hits in his longest outing this season. The right-hander, making his fifth start, retired 15 in a row during one stretch.

Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 10 tries.

Chris Hammond (0-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

David Berg hit his first major-league homer, a two-run shot, in the eighth off reliever C.J. Nitkowski to bring the Marlins within 4-2.

Pittsburgh 6, Colorado 0--Esteban Loaiza, winless for more than a month, pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings and Kevin Young had three hits and three RBIs in the Pirates’ victory at Pittsburgh.

Young, who says he isn’t a home-run hitter but has nine in his last 20 games, hit his 10th homer, and Turner Ward drove in two runs as the Pirates won their sixth in eight games after losing five of six.

Loaiza was 0-1 with an 8.06 ERA while going winless in five starts until checking the Rockies on four hits--avoiding a fifth hit and possible run because of right fielder Jose Guillen’s strong throwing arm.

With Todd Helton on first and one out in the seventh, slow-running catcher Kirt Manwaring apparently lined a single into right field. But Guillen fielded the ball and came up throwing, getting Manwaring by a step.

Chicago 7, Arizona 6--Mark Grace hit the first home run into Bank One Ballpark’s swimming pool and later drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, giving the Cubs a victory over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix.

Arizona tied a team record with its seventh consecutive loss as closer Felix Rodriguez (0-2) issued four consecutive walks with two out in the ninth.

Grace hit a solo homer into the pool just beyond the right-center field fence in the sixth. Fans in swimsuits splashed after the souvenir as Grace circled the bases.

Arizona’s Kelly Stinnett’s three-run homer in the eighth tied the score, 6-6.

Terry Adams (2-1) got the last two outs of the eighth after Stinnett’s homer. Rod Beck got the save.

New York at San Diego--For the first time in 15 years, the Padres postponed a home game because of rain, ending a stretch of 1,173 home dates without a rainout. The last rainout in Qualcomm Stadium was April 20, 1983.

The game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader Thursday.

Montreal at San Francisco--It was the 25th home rainout in San Francisco Giants’ history. The last postponed game was May 17, 1996, against the Mets.

The game was rescheduled for Thursday as part of a doubleheader.