McGwire’s Back, but Cardinals Lose

The mere sight of Mark McGwire in the lineup wasn’t quite enough to inspire the St. Louis Cardinals to victory.

McGwire came off the disabled list and struck out in his only at-bat since July 6, then watched the Milwaukee Brewers rally for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat St. Louis, 6-5, Friday night at Milwaukee.

After the game, McGwire was reluctant to offer more than a few clipped words about his five-pitch at-bat.

“It’s a start,” he said. “That’s all it is.”

McGwire was put on the 15-day disabled list July 13 because of tendinitis in his right knee.

Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa wanted McGwire to face live pitching, so he batted McGwire second and listed him as the second baseman. McGwire, who has hit 30 home runs in 70 games, took a called third strike from Jeff D’Amico.

Then, as planned, McGwire was pulled and replaced by Craig Paquette. In the ninth, Paquette’s two-out error on a grounder by Ron Belliard allowed the winning run to score.

La Russa agreed with his star slugger that it was simply a beginning.

“He took a couple of swings,” La Russa said. “If he comes out of it where he can play tomorrow or get an at-bat tomorrow, then I like what I saw.”

Houston 13, Chicago 10--Sammy Sosa hit his major league-leading 47th home run but the Astros took an 11-run lead and hung on to beat the Cubs at Chicago.

Sosa hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Jose Cabrera, one batter after a man ran on the field, stripped and stood on the pitching mound, making an obscene gesture.

The players stood and watched in amusement as the man, still naked, was escorted off the field through the stands by security guards.

Arizona 2, Florida 1--Matt Williams had two hits, including his seventh home run of the season, and pinch-hitter Matt Mieske delivered a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning at Miami.

Atlanta 3, Montreal 2--Andy Ashby won for the first time in a month and the Braves, despite stranding 14 runners, won at Atlanta.

San Diego 10, San Francisco 7--Ryan Klesko and Dave Magadan had key singles as the Padres rallied for seven runs in the eighth inning to overcome the Giants at San Francisco.

Pittsburgh 7-3, Cincinnati 3-1--Alex Ramirez’s two-run triple broke up a scoreless game in the sixth inning of the second game and the Pirates ran their winning streak to eight by sweeping a doubleheader at Pittsburgh.