Edmonds Brings Cardinals a Win

Even mired in two-for-26 slump, Jim Edmonds is no easy out.

Edmonds had two crucial hits, including a game-winning home run with one out in the ninth inning, that gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-5 victory over the visiting New York Mets on Friday night in a matchup of NL division leaders.

“That’s the way he’s been most of the year,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “He’s been a little bit funky here lately, but mostly he’s been outstanding.”

The Cardinals defeated New York for the first time in seven tries this season when Edmonds hit his 37th homer off Pat Mahomes (4-3). Edmonds also had an RBI single in the seventh to tie the game.

“Hopefully, that’s maybe a sign of things to come,” Edmonds said. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do and need to come up with a little more discipline.”

Mahomes had Edmonds 0-2 in the count before missing on a fastball away. The next pitch was a chest-high fastball that Edmonds hit over the right-field wall.

“I’m going to go at him with my best stuff,” Mahomes said. “I thought I could get a fastball by him, but I guess I was wrong.”

The NL Central-leading Cardinals have won 12 of 16. The Mets, who had won three of four, remained a half-game ahead of the Braves for the NL East lead.

“We played well in Atlanta,” Edmonds said, referring to the Cardinals taking three of four against the Braves last week. “Now we’ve got to try to prove we can play with this team.”

San Francisco 7, Chicago 2--Rich Aurilia hit a three-run homer that capped a six-run first inning for the Giants against Kerry Wood at San Francisco.

Jeff Kent later homered off Wood as the NL West leaders won for the fourth time in five games.

Mark Gardner (10-6) earned his third victory in a row. He pitched one-hit ball into the sixth inning.

The 64th consecutive sellout crowd at Pacific Bell Park boosted the Giants’ home attendance to 2,619,520, a franchise record.

Florida 8, Arizona 7--Mike Lowell hit his second two-run homer of the game in the 11th inning to give the Marlins the victory at Phoenix. The Diamondbacks dropped four games behind San Francisco in the NL West.

Jay Bell tied it twice for Arizona, 4-4 with a two-out, solo home run in the fifth and 6-6 with a two-run single in the seventh.

Colorado 5, Milwaukee 3--Todd Helton homered yet saw his batting average slip two points to .393 and pitcher Pedro Astacio drove in two runs as the Rockies defeated the Brewers at Denver.

Helton went one for four, hitting his 33rd home run in the fifth inning. Former Dodger Todd Hollandsworth had three hits, including a solo homer, as the Rockies won their third consecutive game.

Pittsburgh 3, San Diego 2--Pinch-hitter Abraham Nunez drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning with a high-chop infield single off Trevor Hoffman (4-7), giving the Pirates the victory at San Diego.

Pinch-hitter Mike Darr’s two-out, two-run single in the Padres’ ninth tied it at 2-2.

Cincinnati 8, Montreal 2--Ken Griffey Jr. broke a string of 52 at-bats without a home run--his longest stretch of the season--with a solo homer as the Reds defeated the Expos at Cincinnati.