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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mark McGwire gave St. Louis Cardinals fans yet another magical moment.
|  | | One pitch was all Mark McGwire needed in his return to action at Busch Stadium. |
McGwire homered on the first pitch he's seen at Busch Stadium in
more than two months, connecting for a pinch-hit shot in the eighth
inning Friday night for a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
"These things just happen," McGwire said. "You just store them in the back of your mind until the end of your career and you go back and look at all the things you've done.
"Obviously, this will be one of the things I'll talk about."
McGwire, who has been reduced to one at-bat per game since returning from the disabled list with patella tendinitis in his right knee, hit a solo homer with one out off Jon Lieber (12-10).
"I've seen that too many times, but not as a pinch-hitter," Cubs manager Don Baylor said. "When you're having a year like they're having, things like that happen."
Of course, it was no special moment for Lieber.
"It definitely was a mistake pitch," Lieber said. "The
pitches they hit (for homers) were mistake pitches again."
McGwire is 3-for-6 since coming off the DL, with two homers and a long single that would have been a double except he has trouble running.
The pinch-hit homer over the left-field wall was the seventh of
McGwire's career and first since Sept. 15, 1998, when he hit a
game-winner in the first game of a doubleheader. But he said he has
no special mindset about pinch-hitting.
"You're talking to the wrong guy," he said. "I'm learning at it. I've got three weeks to do it and into the playoffs, and hopefully I'll be successful."
McGwire, who has 32 homers, was disappointed that he did not get
a chance to bat Thursday because he wanted to get his first
appearance at Busch Stadium since July 6 out of the way. He
wouldn't have batted Friday either if Eli Marrero, who grounded out for the first out, had reached base because of the danger of hitting into a double play.
Jim Edmonds hit his 40th homer to reach 100 RBI as the Cardinals cut their magic number for winning the NL Central to
four. St. Louis won its fifth in a row, and has five games left on
the homestand to clinch it.
"We've still got to play hard, but we can do it here," McGwire
said. "That's what all the guys are pulling for."
Fired Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight, a friend of Cardinals
manager Tony La Russa, watched from behind home plate. Knight
received a big hug from McGwire and had a lengthy conversation with
Edmonds before the game.
Many fans jumped to their feet the minute McGwire walked into
the on-deck circle for his first pinch-hit appearance of the
season. His previous six at-bats since being activated technically
came as a starter, because La Russa listed him in the lineup to get
him an at-bat before removing him.
Mike James (2-2) struck out one in a scoreless eighth and Dave
Veres worked the ninth for his 26th save in 32 chances.
The Cardinals moved a season-high 26 games above .500, while the Cubs lost for the 13th time in 15 games.
St. Louis is 5-0 against the Cubs at home this season,
outscoring them 37-10.
Edmonds homered leading off the fourth. Craig Paquette also
homered for the Cardinals, hitting his 12th overall and second in
two games, with two outs in the second.
Gary Matthews Jr., who entered the game in a 4-for-41 slump, hit
a two-run homer in the second for the Cubs.
Lieber allowed three runs -- all on homers -- on four hits in
eight innings. He has lost his last three starts.
Sammy Sosa was 0-for-4 with a strikeout, foul out and two
groundouts, making him 2-for-30 against St. Louis pitching. He also
remained stuck on a major-league leading 49 homers.
"The situation is right now that they've been pitching me really, really, really great," Sosa said. "And good pitching is going to stop good hitting."
Rookie Britt Reames worked seven innings, the longest outing in
his six starts, for St. Louis. Reames, who'll go back to the
bullpen when Andy Benes returns to the rotation next Thursday,
allowed two runs on six hits.
Game notes
Edmonds is the fourth player in Cardinals history to hit 40
homers, joining McGwire, Johnny Mize and Rogers Hornsby. He also
robbed Matthews of extra bases with a running catch at the center
field wall in the seventh. Sosa returned the favor with a catch at
the wall on Fernando Tatis' drive in the bottom half. ... A crowd
of 47,186 was the Cardinals' 30th sellout and 45th game with 40,000
or more in 73 home dates.
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