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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CINCINNATI (AP) -- After gaining a series split, the St. Louis
Cardinals left town with their momentum and their margin intact.
They left behind a team that's running in place and running out
of time.
Shawon Dunston, Eric Davis and Edgar Renteria homered Thursday,
powering the Cardinals to a 12-3 victory that kept the Cincinnati
Reds at bay.
|  | | Eric Davis congratulates Shawon Dunston, right, after Dunston's three-run home run. |
Dunston had a run-scoring single in the first and a three-run
homer in the third, putting the Cardinals ahead 6-0 and on track
for their 13th victory in 17 games.
By splitting the four-game series, St. Louis held its ground
against its closest pursuer in the NL Central. The Cardinals are up
by 8½ games, matching their biggest margin of the season.
"We did what we had to do in a big game," said Davis, who went
3-for-4 and drove in three runs. "We came out and got up on them
early. We came in and did what we wanted to do -- we got a split."
Instead of reaching their stated goal of taking three of four to
make up ground, the Reds lost for the 16th time in 22 games. They
play the Cardinals three times next week in St. Louis, then don't
meet them again until a season-ending series in Busch Stadium.
"I don't think we feel good about a split," team captain Barry
Larkin said. "Basically, it's just running in place."
Ken Griffey Jr. hit a solo homer, his fourth of the series, as
he once again overshadowed slumping Mark McGwire. But the Reds
couldn't overcome another poor performance from their starting
rotation.
Ron Villone (7-5) gave up seven runs and eight hits in five-plus
innings as he lost for the fourth time in five decisions. The
Cardinals sent seven batters to the plate in the first as part of a
three-run rally featuring RBI singles by Davis and Dunston.
Dunston's three-run homer in the third, his seventh, made it
6-0. Renteria and Davis hit solo homers off reliever Manny Aybar,
and each drove in another run off Scott Winchester.
By then, the Reds knew they weren't going to get what they
desperately wanted.
"Yeah, it was a missed opportunity," manager Jack McKeon said.
"Everybody said we needed to sweep or at least win three out of
four, but it comes down to pitching and we didn't get it in the
last game."
Renteria went 8-for-18, homered twice and drove in seven runs in
the series. Davis started twice and went 4-for-8 with two homers
and five RBI.
The Reds wasted a chance to keep pace in the first inning
against a wild Andy Benes (8-3). After retiring the first two
batters, Benes threw 15 balls in his next 17 pitches, loading the
bases and falling behind Aaron Boone 3-0 in the count.
After Boone took a fastball for a strike, he hit a high fastball
to the warning track in left, where Dunston caught it to end the
threat. Benes settled in and gave up three runs and four hits in
seven innings.
"I caught a break in the first inning," Benes said. "If he
hits it out or hits it into the corner, they're ahead or we're
tied. You never know when it's going to be the pivotal point in the
game. After that, I pitched better."
The Cardinals got four solid starts from their rotation and hit
seven homers in the series -- none by McGwire, who managed only one
single in four games. They split anyway.
"I'm content that we were ready and played hard four times,"
manager Tony La Russa said. "I think we did what we had to do. We
came in here and won a couple of games."
Griffey completed a sizzling series with a solo homer in the
fifth, his fourth of the series and 26th of the season -- two behind
McGwire. Griffey has six homers in seven games against McGwire's
team this season.
After slumping through the first two months, Griffey has hit 12
homers in June, one more than Albert Belle for the major league
lead.
By contrast, McGwire had one of his most miserable series, going
1-for-15 with a single, nine strikeouts and three walks.
Struggling in Cincinnati is nothing new for McGwire. He hit the
longest homer in stadium history this season, a 473-foot shot on
May 5, but is only 10-for-55 (.182) career with four homers in
Cincinnati.
Game notes
The crowd of 45,771 was the largest in stadium history for
a weekday afternoon game in the regular season, excluding opening
day. The previous record was 42,543 to see the Giants on June 27,
1990. ... The Cardinals have the most homers in the NL (132) and
the fewest errors (41). Their infield has not committed an error
since June 16, a span of 111 innings. ... Since June 4, when they
were in first place by a half-game, the Reds have failed to win
consecutive games. ... Larkin batted leadoff the last four games
and went 3-for-15. ... After the game, the Reds optioned Winchester
to Triple-A Louisville and activated Pete Harnisch off the DL.
He'll start Friday in Arizona.
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Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Cincinnati Clubhouse
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