McGwire Ties Schmidt in Wild Win

Craig Paquette’s RBI single off the glove of reliever Mark Gardner gave the St. Louis Cardinals--seven runs down in the fifth inning--an 11-10 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night.

Earlier, Mark McGwire tied Mike Schmidt for seventh place on the career home run list, hitting No. 548 in the fourth inning.

Gardner (4-3) hit McGwire with a pitch to start the ninth and Eli Marrero pinch ran. Ray Lankford singled with one out and Paquette followed with a one-hopper to the mound that appeared to handcuff Gardner. But the ball squibbed away near the third-base line.

Shawon Dunston tied his career high with six runs batted in, and his eighth-inning three-run homer--his second home run of the game--brought the Cardinals back from a seven-run deficit to a 10-9 lead. Dunston, who batted leadoff for the first time all season, also homered in the seventh and had a two-run double in the fifth.

McGwire’s homer came on a 2-0 pitch and traveled an estimated 475 feet to straightaway center, giving him 101 homers and 214 RBIs in 212 career games at Busch Stadium. He’s on pace to hit 59 homers this season after hitting 65 last year and a record 70 in 1998.

McGwire reached 548 homers in 5,832 at-bats, while it took Schmidt 8,352 at-bats. Earlier this season, McGwire passed Jimmie Foxx (534) and Mickey Mantle (536). Reggie Jackson is sixth on the career list with 563.

Jeff Kent had a three-run homer to ignite the Giants’ eight-run fifth against Pat Hentgen, and tied it at 10 with an RBI single off Dave Veres (1-2) in the ninth. A shaky outing from Shawn Estes helped the Cardinals climb back into the game.

Dunston’s sixth homer came on an 0-1 count against Felix Rodriguez and with an assist from left fielder Barry Bonds. Bonds made a leaping attempt at the wall, but the ball bounced off the heel of his glove and over the wall.

“You know, my dad told me if you play long enough in your career, something’s going to happen,” Bonds said. “I used to watch this on TV. Well, now I get to be on the bloopers reel.”

Said Dunston: “Barry helped us, so that’s OK. If he can’t catch it, no one can. He’s the best left fielder in the game.”

McGwire’s first homer in three games produced the game’s first run with two outs in the fourth. His 26th of the season tied Bonds for the major league lead. It also was the Cardinals’ first hit off Estes, who contributed a two-run double in the fifth to give him eight RBIs.

Cincinnati 5, Colorado 3--Ken Griffey Jr. homered and Steve Parris (3-10) got his first victory since May 9 for the Reds at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati won for only the third time in 15 games, a slump that has dropped the Reds deep into second place in the NL Central. They had lost four consecutive series before taking two of three from Colorado.

The Rockies fell a game behind idle Arizona in the NL West as they lost for only the fourth time in 12 games. They head to Arizona for a weekend series.

Atlanta 6, Chicago 4--Terry Mulholland won for the fourth time in six starts, and Quilvio Veras and Reggie Sanders two RBIs each, leading the Braves over the Cubs at Chicago.

Veras, who went two for three and scored two runs, hit his eighth career leadoff homer. He put Atlanta up 6-2 with an RBI single in the fourth.

Mulholland (7-6) scattered 13 hits. Scott Downs (3-2) was the loser, allowing six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Sammy Sosa, the subject of trade rumors, went three for four, getting his 1,500th career hit in the fifth and an RBI single in the sixth.

Montreal 6, Pittsburgh 5--Jose Vidro homered and had three RBIs as the Expos held on at Montreal to gain a four-game split with the Pirates.

Vidro, who went three for four to raise his average to .368, hit an RBI single in the first off Todd Ritchie (4-4), a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the second and a leadoff single in the eighth.

Dustin Hermanson (6-4) recovered from a three-run first inning, retiring 14 of 15 batters after Bruce Aven’s two-out, RBI double gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead.

New York 5, Philadelphia 4--Jay Payton hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Mets avoided a three-game sweep to the Phillies at New York.

Payton’s homer off starter Cliff Politte appeared to skim the top of right fielder Bobby Abreu’s glove and go over the wall.

Derek Bell and Melvin Mora also homered, and Glendon Rusch (5-5) pitched seven strong innings for the Mets. Rusch allowed two runs, seven hits, struck out five and walked one.

Milwaukee 6, Florida 1--John Snyder pitched two-hit shutout ball over six innings, and Charlie Hayes hit a two-run homer, leading the Brewers over the Marlins at Miami for a split of the four-game series.

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Leading Men

Mark McGwire tied Mike Schmidt for seventh place on the all-time home run list:

Player: No.

1. Hank Aaron: 755

2. Babe Ruth: 714

3. Willie Mays: 660

4. Frank Robinson: 586

5. Harmon Killebrew: 573

6. Reggie Jackson: 563

7. Mike Schmidt: 548

7. x-Mark McGwire: 548

9. Mickey Mantle: 536

10. Jimmie Foxx: 534

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