Thome’s Three Home Runs Power Indians

As Jim Thome stood at home plate with the crowd roaring around him, he could only imagine how tough Mark McGwire had it while chasing history.

“When everybody wants you to hit a home run,” said Thome, “it’s pretty tough to do.”

Thome hit three two-run homers to power the Cleveland Indians to their highest-scoring game this season, a 14-2 rout Friday night over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Thome connected in the first and third innings off NL All-Star Matt Morris (10-5), and again in the seventh off Mike James as the Indians rebounded from Thursday’s 5-4, ninth-inning loss to the Boston Red Sox to win for only the third time in nine games.

There was no doubt about Thome’s first two home runs, but his third, coming in Cleveland’s six-run seventh, skimmed the outside of the foul pole down the left-field line.

With a chance to tie the major league record for homers in a game--and become the first AL player to do it since Cleveland’s Rocky Colavito in 1959--Thome struck out looking in the eighth against Steve Kline.

Thome, who spoke with his close friend McGwire before the game, said he has a new appreciation for what the St. Louis slugger had to endure in 1998 when he chased down Roger Maris’ record on the way to hitting 70 home runs.

“For him to go through what he’s gone though is really amazing to me because you’ve got to get pitches to be able to do it,” Thome said. “Four is one thing, but 62 or whatever, now that’s tough.”

Thome’s 23rd, 24th and 25th homers this season gave him his second career three-homer game and six-RBI game.

Charles Nagy (3-3), coming off his shortest start since August 1995, had his sinker working and got 15 outs on ground balls.