Losing Takes the Luster Off McGwire’s 51st

Having watched his team blow another lead, Mark McGwire wasn’t in the mood to reflect on his latest brush with history.

McGwire hit his 51st home run, tying Sammy Sosa for the major league lead, but the Montreal Expos rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4, Tuesday night at Montreal.

McGwire matched Lou Gehrig’s record of 493 home runs by a first baseman. McGwire has hit 15 additional homers while playing other positions.

“I don’t even know who’s next and I don’t really care,” McGwire said. “It has no bearing on what I do that day. I’m paid to play the game, I’m not paid to look at history. That’s the way I look at things.”

McGwire hit a two-run shot in the first inning, a 435-foot shot to center field.

“All my impressions of all that stuff will mean a lot when I’m retired,” McGwire said. “I have a lot of playing left and that’s about it. There’s no time to reflect on that, so I’ve still got a few years to play.”

Vladimir Guerrero extended his Montreal-record hitting streak to 29 games, one behind Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez for the longest in the majors this year.

The crowd of 17,142 topped the Expos’ average of 9,595 at Olympic Stadium.

Jose Vidro’s two-run single in the seventh drove in the tying and go-ahead runs for Montreal. The Expos added four runs in the eighth.

Philadelphia 18, San Diego 2--Bobby Abreu homered twice and drove in six runs and Rob Ducey got a career-high five hits at Philadelphia.

Scott Rolen, who tied the major league record with five strikeouts in a nine-inning game Monday night, whiffed again in the Phillies’ first for his sixth consecutive strikeout.

But Rolen doubled and scored to start a four-run third, then hit a three-run double in the sixth that made the score 11-2.

Ducey, playing for injured leadoff hitter Doug Glanville, singled four times, scored four runs and had a two-run double in the third that made the score 8-0. He flied out to the warning track in center in the eighth.

Arizona 5, Florida 4--Jay Bell atoned for his costly double-error in the seventh inning by hitting a tiebreaking home run in the eighth at Miami.

Rookie Erubiel Durazo hit his fourth home run since being called up July 25 as the NL West-leading Diamondbacks won their fourth in a row.

The Marlins scored three times in the seventh to tie the score at 4. Todd Dunwoody’s RBI grounder with the bases loaded made the score 4-2, and, with two out, pinch-hitter Chris Klapinski followed with a routine grounder to Bell at second base.

Bell misplayed the ball for one error, then made a wild throw that allowed a second run to score.

But with two out in the eighth, Bell hit his 31st home run, connecting off Armando Almanza (0-1).

Atlanta 6, Cincinnati 4--John Smoltz won for the first time in more than two months, giving up only four hits in eight innings at Atlanta to keep the Braves atop the NL East.

The Braves scored four runs in the sixth to overcome a 3-2 deficit and end Pete Harnisch’s eight-game winning streak. Jose Hernandez atoned for a defensive miscue with a two-run double as Atlanta won its sixth in a row.

Smoltz (9-6) had not posted a victory since June 18 at Arizona--the longest winless streak of his career. Over his last nine starts, he was 0-4 with five no-decisions and a 4.13 ERA.

The Braves put together two runs and five hits in the first against Harnisch (13-7), who had the longest winning streak by a Cincinnati pitcher since Tom Browning won eight in a row in 1989.

Colorado 3, Pittsburgh 2--Angel Echevarria hit a two-run single with two out in the ninth inning for the win at Pittsburgh.

The Pirates wasted another strong start by Kris Benson, who gave up six hits in eight innings and also drove in one run. Benson is winless in his last three starts despite giving up four earned runs in 21 innings.

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Home Runs by Position

Most career home runs at each position (only counts homers hit when playing that position):

C--Carlton Fisk: 351

1B--Lou Gehrig, Mark McGwire: 493

2B--Ryne Sandberg: 275

3B--Mike Schmidt: 509

SS--Cal Ripken, Jr.: 345

OF--Babe Ruth: 692

DH--Don Baylor: 219

P--Wes Ferrell: 37