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Tuesday, Apr. 18 8:10pm ET
Benes, Edmonds lead Cardinals over Padres | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Andy Benes was the last member of the St. Louis Cardinals' rotation to get a victory, and don't think he wasn't aware of his early drought. "I was on pace for 0-17 with 17 no-decisions," Benes said after overcoming a shaky start in a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres Tuesday night. "Now I'm on pace for 11-11-11." Benes (1-1) lost his first start and had a no-decision in his second outing, another loss. The other four members of the rotation have combined for eight victories. "All of our other starters have gone out there and won games and we've played well enough in the games I've pitched to win," Benes said. "But I felt like I needed to do a little better job." Benes (1-1) gave up a 454-foot, two-run homer in the first inning to Ryan Klesko, whose drive hit the facade below upper deck in right field. He allowed only three hits over the next five-plus innings, striking out six and walking three. "Klesko did what he should have done with that pitch," manager Tony La Russa said. "After that he didn't get a whole lot of those to hit. Nobody did." The right-hander is in his second stint with the Cardinals after two years in Arizona. He won 28 games in 1996 and '97 for St. Louis. "It was just nice to get a win in this uniform," said Benes, whose last victory with the Cardinals was Sept. 2, 1997. Jim Edmonds had three hits and two RBI, keeping among the league leaders with 17, for the Cardinals. He had an RBI double in the third, singled in the fifth and drove in another run with a single in the seventh, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to .447. Asked whether he's traditionally a fast starter, Edmonds said: "Not this fast. Things are going good." Edgar Renteria homered and doubled twice for the Cardinals. Al Martin had three doubles for the Padres. Renteria hit his fourth home run in a three-run fourth against Brian Meadows (2-1) as the Cardinals homered for the 10th straight game. St. Louis has 25 homers during the streak and has homered in all but one of the first 14 games, leading the major leagues with 34 despite an injury-plagued start by Mark McGwire. McGwire, who has hit 135 homers the past two seasons, has missed the last week with lower back pain. He took his first swings in a week and hit three home runs in a three-pitch batting practice sequence, and hopes to play Wednesday. Fernando Tatis doubled twice and drove in a run. Meadows, who worked six innings and gave up four runs on eight hits, is 0-3 the last two seasons against the Cardinals. "My control was not there," said Meadows, who walked two. "It was not a day where I really felt like I had my best command." Bret Boone singled and Mike Darr walked to start the seventh, chasing Benes. Tony Gwynn, in his first pinch-hit appearance of the season, hit a sacrifice fly. Eric Owens, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, had an RBI single in the eighth just beyond the outstretched glove of second baseman Fernando Vina. Dave Veres struck out Ben Davis with the bases loaded to end the Padres eighth. He worked around Martin's one-out double in the ninth for his third save, striking out Damian Jackson and Klesko to end the game. "It was a little more nerve-wracking than some," Veres said. Game notesGwynn hasn't started seven straight games due to a knee injury but is hopeful of playing Wednesday. His next single will be No. 2,331, moving him past Cap Anson into 10th place on the career list. "I probably could have played but I'm getting older and I'm trying to do the right thing," Gwynn said. "Defensively I think I would have been a big liability today." ... Cardinals bullpen coach Mark DeJohn replaced first base coach Dave McKay, who is having shoulder surgery this week. McKay is the longtime batting practice pitcher for McGwire. ... McGwire's son, Matthew, served as batboy. ... The Cardinals are 9-0 when they play errorless ball and 0-5 when they commit an error. ... The Cardinals are 8-2 against the Padres the last two seasons. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard San Diego Clubhouse St. Louis Clubhouse McGwire not in lineup but looks strong in BP
RECAPS Tampa Bay 0 Baltimore 0
St. Louis 5
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