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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A day after the St. Louis Cardinals clinched
the NL Central, Andy Benes struggled in his personal drive for the
postseason.
|  | | Rookie Tony McKnight gave up six hits in 6 2/3 innings, picking up the victory in his fifth career start. |
Benes, coming off a knee injury and making his first start since
Aug. 14, struggled as the Houston Astros beat the Cardinals 7-5
Thursday. He'll get two more starts to prepare for the playoffs.
He allowed five runs and five hits in five innings and threw 94
pitches.
"It's almost like a spring training game where you're just
trying to get back in the swing of things," Benes said. "Right
now I don't really have the luxury of that because we're trying to
win more games than anybody in the league.
"Hopefully, next time I'll be able to throw more innings and
give up less runs."
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa didn't start Jim Edmonds and
three other regulars after a night of celebrating, and he also let
outfielder Eric Davis decide the lineup. Davis, 38, joked after not
giving himself a start.
"He's an older guy, and when I got here I was talking to some
of the guys about who I was going to decide to play and we had a
real extensive celebration," Davis said. "So it was probably the
best move that I kept him out of the ballgame."
The Astros' Jeff Bagwell missed only his fourth start of the
year.
"This game seemed anticlimactic," manager Larry Dierker said.
"It happened so early in the day, so soon after the clincher, it
seemed to lack a little something I'm sure more for them than for
us."
Mark McGwire flied out against Marc Valdes as a pinch hitter
with two on in the eighth and is 3-for-9 with two homers since
returning from the disabled list.
Benes is 0-5 in his last seven starts after winning six straight
decisions from June 6 to July 13. Cartilage damage in his right knee
began to affect his delivery and he'll have arthroscopic surgery
after the season.
Benes said he's not worried whether he'll be part of the
postseason rotation.
"I'm going to do what I can do and I'll find out where I fit in
the picture and go from there," Benes said. "But that's not going
to be a source of any irritation or aggravation."
The Benes brothers, Andy and Alan, pitched in the same game for only the second time in their careers, the first time making back-to-back appearances. Both pitched July 23 at Houston, but with two relievers in between.
Alan Benes, who's struggled in a relief role after missing more
than two seasons with shoulder woes, worked the sixth and seventh
and allowed one run and four hits in two innings.
Rookie Tony McKnight (3-1), making his fifth career start and
first against the Cardinals, gave up six hits. Octavio Dotel worked
the ninth for his 15th save in 20 chances, allowing an RBI single
to Will Clark.
Richard Hidalgo homered in the ninth off Gene Stechschulte, his
42nd of the year and ninth off St. Louis this season, his most
against any team.
Hidalgo hit only 15 homers in an injury-plagued 1999 and his
goal for this year was 30.
"Now that I've got 42, I feel good and I want to hit some
more," he said.
Lance Berkman had a pair of sacrifice flies. He also doubled and
scored on an RBI double by Moises Alou, who was 2-for-5 with two
RBI. Chris Truby had an RBI double and run-scoring groundout.
Houston led 4-0 before Placido Polanco's two-run single in the
third. Polanco was 3-for-5 with three RBI for the Cardinals and
Perez added a sacrifice fly.
Game notes
The Astros took two of three for their 10th series win out
of 12. They're 14-6 in September. ... Alou is batting .357 and is
in range of the franchise record of .368 by Bagwell in his 1994 MVP
season. ... Roger Cedeno, who had been 6-for-6 in the series,
grounded out as a pinch hitter to end the eighth. ... The Cardinals
dropped only their second series out of the last 11. ... The
Cardinals allowed a season-high four stolen bases, two each by
Julio Lugo and Hidalgo.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 9
Cleveland 8
Cleveland 8
Boston 5
(2nd game)
Toronto 3
NY Yankees 1
Kansas City 8
Anaheim 3
Chi. White Sox 9
Minnesota 4
Oakland 5
Seattle 2
Houston 7
St. Louis 5
Montreal 10
Florida 3
Colorado 13
San Diego 4
Philadelphia 6
NY Mets 5
Milwaukee 12
Pittsburgh 2
San Francisco 8
Arizona 7
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