McGwire on fire
Cards slugger launches No. 27, but Padres win 3-2
Posted: Sunday May 31, 1998 09:52 AM
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Mark McGwire stays on his record-setting pace in San Diego (AP) |
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- After giving up Mark McGwire's major league-leading 27th home run, Andy Ashby got even with the slugger.
Ashby threw a fat fastball that McGwire launched into the seats in left-center field in the first inning, but the right-hander was careful the rest of the way and the San Diego Padres rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Saturday night. Quilvio Veras hit the game-winning single with one out in the ninth.
Ashby tried to throw a fastball up and in on McGwire in the first, but it was simply up and McGwire hit it an estimated 423 feet.
"I didn't know how good I hit it until it was gone," McGwire said.
"A guy that strong and the way he's swinging the bat, I mean, he got the best of it," Ashby said. "He took advantage of it."
Ashby walked McGwire in the third and got him to fly out to right in the fifth. He fell behind 3-0 to McGwire leading off the eighth, but threw three sinking fastballs over the outside corner, including a called third strike.
"I wasn't going to lay one in there," Ashby said. "Lord willing, it worked out that way that one didn't come back across the plate. He got me once and I got him once."
Ashby (6-4) pitched his second straight complete game and his team-high third of the season, allowing two runs and nine hits.
McGwire finished 1-for-3 with a walk and is tied with Texas' Juan Gonzalez for the major league RBI lead with 66.
In the ninth, Veras' single off Jeff Brantley (0-1) fell in front of diving right fielder Brian Jordan, scoring Carlos Hernandez with the winning run.
Hernandez reached on a two-base error by second baseman Delino DeShields, who dropped a fly ball when he and Jordan collided in shallow right field. DeShields said he didn't hear Jordan calling for the ball. Andy Sheets' sacrifice bunt advanced Hernandez.
The Padres tied it at 2 with two out in the eighth when Ken Caminiti doubled in Steve Finley, who had singled to right and advanced on Tony Gwynn's groundout. Caminiti, who was on the disabled list from May 2-23 with a strained left quadriceps, limped into second and was replaced by Ed Giovanola. After the game, Caminiti said he was OK.
McGwire has already broken the major league record for most home runs by the end of May -- Ken Griffey Jr.'s 24 in 1997 -- and needs just five more to claim the June mark -- Griffey's 32 in 1994. Both players chased Roger Maris' record of 61 last year, with McGwire finishing at 58 and Griffey at 56.
Third base coach Rene Lachemann provided a testament to McGwire's power. Lachemann normally stands well outside the coaching box when the slugger bats, but when McGwire rifled a foul ball toward the seats along the third base line in the first inning, Lachemann moved at least 10 feet farther back.
It was McGwire's 16th homer in May, breaking his own club record for homers in a single month. He had 15 last September. McGwire has 11 homers in as many games, including a two-run shot in Friday night's 8-3 win over the Padres.
Jordan hit an RBI single for St. Louis with one out in the third for a 2-0 lead, and Sheets hit an RBI single in the fifth.
St. Louis' Juan Acevedo, moved into the rotation because of injuries, allowed one run and five hits in five innings in his first start since September 29, when he was with the New York Mets.
Notes: In batting practice, McGwire hit a homer off the facade of the third deck in left field. ... Because of the interest in McGwire during batting practice, Cardinals hitting coach Dave Parker requested that the Padres cordon off the area around the batting cage to keep photographers back. The Padres dragged out the "Riggleman Ropes" that former manager Jim Riggleman used for a time to keep visiting players from visiting with his players. ... Cardinals reliever John Frascatore singled off Ashby in the seventh for his first major-league hit. ... Padres outfielder James Mouton is eligible to come off the disabled list on Sunday, but will play Sunday at Class AAA Las Vegas, then come back on Monday. ... Navy Secretary John H. Dalton threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... The crowd of 54,089 was San Diego's third sellout this year.
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