McGwire’s Slam Ends Drought, Sinks Braves

There was no shortage of fireworks at Atlanta’s Turner Field on Tuesday. Mark McGwire provided the first with a grand slam against Greg Maddux in the second inning.

An ensuing bean-ball war and another home run by Fernando Tatis provided the rest as the St. Louis Cardinals ended the Atlanta Braves’ six-game winning streak, 9-1.

After blooping a double to left in his first at-bat, McGwire came up in the second with two outs and the bases loaded. The Cardinals already had scored two runs against Maddux (4-1), but Big Mac tripled that total, hitting his first home run in 41 at-bats.

“He’s a good hitter who makes hard contact,” St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa said. “And his hard contact leaves the park. If I were a pitcher and he had not hit one in a while, I’d be really worried.”

McGwire shrugged off his homerless streak and the searing drive--it bounced off the back wall of the bullpen--that ended it.

“The season is a marathon,” he said. “You can’t get too excited over one hit, one day. The season is six months long. Talk to me Oct. 3 and we’ll see how the season went.”

Two pitches after the homer, Maddux plunked Ray Lankford on the shoulder, prompting both benches to empty. No punches were thrown, but home plate umpire Larry Poncino warned each dugout.

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Maddux said. “I was just trying to come in to get him off the plate.”

Then, on the first pitch in the bottom of the second, Cardinal starter and former Brave Kent Mercker threw behind Andruw Jones. Mercker was ejected and both teams poured back onto the field. Once again, they managed to avoid a full-scale brawl.

Manny Aybar (2-0) replaced Mercker and gave up only three hits in six scoreless innings for the win. Brian Hunter broke up the shutout with an eight-inning homer.

The results should have been troubling for Maddux, who had never given up six runs in an inning. But he didn’t seem too upset.

“You know, I didn’t pitch that bad,” he insisted. “I didn’t get away with anything. Pitches I usually get outs with were fouled off. I felt good. It’s the best I’ve felt all year. I just got hit.”

San Francisco 7, Pittsburgh 4--Rich Aurilia had three hits and two runs batted in, and pitcher Russ Ortiz helped himself with a run-scoring single at Pittsburgh.

The Giants shook off the aftereffects of the Pirates’ winning four-run ninth inning rally Monday to stop a four-game losing streak, their longest this season.

Aurilia had run-scoring doubles in a three-run fourth, which included Ortiz’s RBI single, and in the eighth following J.T. Snow’s leadoff double.

Houston 6, New York 1--Mike Hampton stopped the Mets’ six-game winning streak with his arm and his bat, giving up only two hits in seven innings and sparking a three-run rally in the seventh with a two-out triple, leading the Astros at New York.

Hampton (3-1) struck out five and walked three. Before Mike Piazza’s game-tying single in the seventh, the only New York hit had been a fourth-inning smash to third by Edgardo Alfonzo that Ken Caminiti threw in the dirt.

Cincinnati 6, Arizona 4--Barry Larkin scored three runs and hit a two-run home run for the Reds at Cincinnati.

Larkin’s fifth homer, against Omar Daal (2-3), broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning and sent the Diamondbacks to their third straight loss--their worst slump since they began the season 0-4.

Philadelphia 2, San Diego 0--Carlton Loewer pitched a five-hitter for the first shutout of his career and Marlon Anderson drove in two runs to lead the Phillies at Philadelphia.

Loewer (2-2) needed 129 pitches to throw his second complete game of the season and third of his career. Tony Gwynn had two of the five hits, giving him 2,968 for his career. Loewer struck out six and walked three.

The Padres were unable to advance a runner past second base, with Gwynn reaching second twice.

Chicago 13, Colorado 12--Mickey Morandini’s ninth-inning fly fell in for a game-winning single as the Cubs blew a six-run lead and then rallied twice to win at Chicago.

The Cubs hit five home runs, including Mark Grace’s first grand slam, but trailed, 12-11, entering the bottom of the ninth after Colorado’s Darryl Hamilton hit an RBI single in the top of the inning against Rod Beck.

The Cubs, who once led, 8-2, trailed heading into the bottom of the eighth, 11-8, but pulled even on Sammy Sosa’s two-run homer, his fifth of the season, and a solo shot by Henry Rodriguez.