Cardinal Pitcher Does It All

The St. Louis lineup is so strong, even the Cardinals’ 20-year-old phenom pitcher is proving to be a tough out.

Rick Ankiel went three for three with a home run, and pitched five scoreless innings despite seven walks in the Cardinals’ 14-1 trouncing of San Diego on Thursday night.

“I get paid to pitch, and that was terrible,” Ankiel said. “I leave those guys out there for 30 minutes inning after inning, and for them to come in and score runs like that, it’s amazing.”

On the other hand, none of those walks hurt him. Ankiel said a slight adjustment with his shoulder should correct the wildness that has led to 17 walks in 18 innings.

“He’s still learning to harness that ability,” Manager Tony La Russa said.

At the plate, Ankiel is five for nine with a triple and two runs batted in. Eli Marrero capped a six-run first with his first career grand slam. He and Ankiel hit consecutive homers off Vicente Palacios in the fifth. The Cardinals lead the majors with 39 home runs.

Mark McGwire returned after missing seven games because of back problems and was 0 for 2 with two walks and two runs.