Drop in Lineup Lights Up McGwire

Hitting sixth was just fine for Mark McGwire on Sunday.

The season home run record-holder, dropping to the No. 6 spot for the first time in seven years, went three for three with four runs batted in Sunday as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-0, at St. Louis for their 11th consecutive victory.

“Like I’ve said through my career, it doesn’t matter where you hit,” he said. “They’re going to pitch you the same way, and I got some balls to hit.”

McGwire had been in a three-for-32 slump with two home runs and seven RBIs since Aug. 2. He hadn’t hit sixth since July 14, 1994, for Oakland against Boston.

“He’s going to do damage no matter where he is,” catcher Mike Matheny said.

Matt Morris (16-7) gave up five hits in seven innings for the Cardinals, on their longest winning streak since winning 12 in a row from April 11-24, 1982, en route to the World Series title.

St. Louis, which won 10 in a row from May 7-17, is the first major league team with two double-digit winning streaks in the same season since the 1978 Pittsburgh Pirates won 10 in a row from Aug. 13-24, lost two, then won 11 consecutive games from Aug. 27-Sept. 6.

The Cardinals, 15-4 in August, remained 2 1/2 games behind NL Central-leading Houston but closed within a half-game of second-place Chicago.

“We’re not there yet, we’re still in third place,” McGwire said. “There’s no celebrating.”

McGwire had only his second game of the season with three or more hits, his first since going four for five on June 15 against the Chicago White Sox. It’s the first time he’s had two singles in a game since then.

“My year has stunk so far,” said McGwire, who has 21 home runs. “If I can finish up the rest of the year and help out, it’d be great. But the team is winning without me, so that’s the way it goes.”

He beat an overshifted defense when he grounded a run-scoring single to right in the second for a 1-0 lead.

“I was trying to be Ichiro,” McGwire said, referring to Seattle rookie Ichiro Suzuki. “They say he looks where he wants to hit the ball, and for some time I haven’t been looking.”

McGwire walked in the fourth, singled and scored on Matheny’s single off David Coggin (4-2) to make it 3-0 in the sixth, then hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh as the Cardinals went ahead, 4-0. McGwire added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

McGwire, who also gloved Johnny Estrada’s shoe-top liner near the first-base bag to end the fourth, did not start the first two games of the three-game sweep. Philadelphia has lost four in a row for the fifth time this season, the first time since July 27-31. The Phillies remained one game behind Atlanta, the NL East leader.

“We’ve got to play better or we’ll get buried,” Manager Larry Bowa said.

San Francisco 4, Atlanta 1--Andres Galarraga broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run single off Tom Glavine (11-6) in a three-run fifth at San Francisco, stopping Atlanta’s four-game winning streak. Glavine lost for the first time since June 13.

John Vander Wal added his 17th pinch home run, most among active players. Barry Bonds, who hit his 54th homer Saturday, was 0 for 2 with two walks.

San Francisco remained 2 1/2 games behind Arizona, the NL West leader.

Arizona 13, Chicago 6--Sammy Sosa was four for five with his 14th home run in 27 games and 44th overall, but the Diamondbacks rallied from a 5-1 deficit to complete a three-game sweep at Phoenix and extend their winning streak to nine.

Arizona set a major league season record with 13 pinch-hit home runs when Greg Colbrunn connected in the seventh.

Houston 12, Pittsburgh 2--Jeff Bagwell hit a three-run home run in a six-run second inning and Richard Hidalgo had four RBIs at Houston to help the Astros complete a four-game sweep.

Bagwell’s 32nd home run gave him 100 RBIs, making him the eighth player in major league history with six consecutive 30-home run, 100-RBI seasons.

Milwaukee 6, Cincinnati 4--Nick Neugebauer won his major league debut, striking out nine and not giving up a hit until the fifth inning.

The 21-year-old right-hander, the youngest pitcher currently in the major leagues, gave up one run and three hits in five innings, extending the Reds losing streak to eighth consecutive games.

Colorado 6, Florida 5--John Thomson (1-5), recovering from shoulder surgery, won for the first time since Aug. 15, 1999, giving up two runs and six hits in seven innings at Denver.

Montreal 2, San Diego 1--Tony Armas Jr. (9-11) took a one-hit shutout into the ninth at San Diego and struck out a career-high 10. He didn’t give up a hit until pinch-hitter Dave Magadan sliced a single to left with two outs in the sixth.