Guerrero Responds as Streak Reaches 30

After tipping his hat the previous night, Vladimir Guerrero took a curtain call Wednesday to acknowledge the cheers at Olympic Stadium.

Guerrero hit his 31st homer to extend his hitting streak to 30 games--tying Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez for the longest in the majors this season--as Montreal beat St. Louis, 4-1, to complete a three-game sweep.

With Jose Vidro on second, Guerrero hit a 396-foot shot off Larry Luebbers (1-3) with one out in the first. After entering the dugout, Guerrero came back on the field to salute the crowd of 15,322 for a lengthy standing ovation.

“I liked it a lot,” Guerrero said--through an interpreter--of the crowd’s enthusiasm. “As long as the fans keep coming to the games, it helps the team and it will make me a better player, not just now but also for the future.”

On Tuesday night, Guerrero took Mark McGwire’s advice and tipped his cap to acknowledge a standing ovation after singling to extend his hitting streak.

“He does cover the plate,” Luebbers said. “I’m not really happy with the result but he’s a good hitter, so that’s going to happen.”

Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa agreed.

“I think he’s putting an awful lot of balls in play hard,” La Russa said. “[He’s hitting] different pitches in different locations so he’s a very tough out.”

Jeremy Powell (2-5) got the victory, giving up one run and eight hits in eight innings. He threw 100 pitches, 62 for strikes, to tie his longest career outing.

McGwire went homerless, with a single in four at-bats, to fall one homer behind Sammy Sosa, who hit his 52nd on Wednesday.

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Streaking Along

Longest hitting streaks since 1980: *--*

No. Player, team Year 39 Paul Molitor, Milwaukee 1987 34 Benito Santiago, San Diego 1987 31 Ken Landreaux, Minnesota 1980 30 George Brett, Kansas City 1980 30 Jerome Walton, Chi. Cubs 1989 30 Sandy Alomar, Cleveland 1997 30 Nomar Garciaparra, Boston 1997 30 Eric Davis, Baltimore 1998 30 Luis Gonzalez, Arizona 1999 30 Vladimir Guerrero, Montreal 1999* MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD 56 Joe DiMaggio, N.Y. Yankees 1941 NL RECORD 44 Pete Rose, Cincinnati 1978

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