Good Morning Bruce, (OFF TOPIC)
I know that you had to be responsible for shutting down Silicon Investor yesterday so that I would not be able to post about our little pennant race. For that, you now get the whole story: (vbg)
"Grupo Brad de Up By 2 Goin' To Bring My Blue to San FranMan"
Four-run 9th gives Dodgers 7-6 win
BASEBALL
SCOREBOARD
ALSO SEE
McGwire
re-signs with
Cards for 3
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A happy
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McGwire,
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Braves'
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GAME LOG | BOX SCORE | RECAP
ST. LOUIS -- Mark McGwire, on the day he signed a three-year contract with
the St. Louis Cardinals, delivered the big blast.
But the Los Angeles Dodgers delivered when it
counted, scoring four runs in the top of the ninth
inning for a 7-6 victory over the Cardinals.
Cardinals closer Dennis Eckersley collapsed in
the ninth inning, recording no outs as he
allowed four straight hits and a walk.
"These guys are in a pennant race and stuff like that is what championship teams
do," Eckersley said. "It just so happened that it was against me."
Combined with San Francisco's 6-4 loss to Atlanta, the Dodgers increased their
lead in the National League West to two games over the Giants with 11 games
left. The two rivals have a two-games series beginning Wednesday in San
Francisco.
"Eckersley is a very good closer," said Eric Young, whose sacrifice fly off John
Frascatore drove in the winning run. "It was just very good to come back and it
will get us even more excited to go into San Francisco."
McGwire's 517-foot first-inning blast, the longest ever measured at Busch
Stadium, tied him for the major-league home run lead with Seattle's Ken Griffey
Jr. His 52 homers matches his career high, set last year.
"On 2-0, I backed out and looked and the
fans were on their feet," McGwire said. "It
was like I was floating. It was probably the
best feeling I've ever had in the game."
The Dodgers, however, had a good feeling
of their own against Eckersley (1-5).
Mike Piazza singled to begin the ninth and took third on Eric Karros' double.
Raul Mondesi and Todd Zeile followed with RBI singles to draw the Dodgers
within one. Pinch-hitter Eddie Murray walked to load the bases.
John Frascatore relieved Eckersley and got pinch-hitter Wayne Kirby to foul out
for the first out.
Then, with the bases still loaded and leading by one run, Tony La Russa brought
his infield in tight in a question maneuver. Todd Hollandworth hit what would
have been a perfect doubleplay ball to end the game, but it shortstop Royce
Clayton mishandled hit.
Clayton said the ball caught him on an in-between hop.
"I couldn't charge it, so I just tried to
smother it," Clayton said. "It hit off
my stomach and bounced to the
side."
The game was tied and Young
followed with a sacrifice fly to center,
capping the comeback.
Rick Gorecki (1-0) walked one and
fanned one in 1 2/3 innings to earn
his first major-leage win. Scott
Radinsky struck out the side in the
ninth to earn his third save.
Piazza tied his career-high with his
36th homer when he belted a
two-run blast off rookie Mike Busby
in the first inning.
Busch Stadium was buzzing because of McGwire, who decided against testing
the free-agent market and signed a $28 million deal with the Cardinals with an
option for a fourth season that would push the package to nearly $40 million.
Fans stood for all of the slugger's at-bats, gave him a standing ovation after he
struck out in the third inning, and booed vociferously when he was intentionally
walked with a runner on third and one out in the seventh.
Ray Lankford followed the walk with his fifth home run in seven games,
connecting off Mark Guthrie to erase a 3-2 deficit. Pinch-hitter Willie McGee
added an RBI double to chase Guthrie.
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