McGwire Shows Cardinals the Way With 22nd Homer

Before Monday’s game with Houston, Mark McGwire said his team would need to play “too perfect” to get back into the playoff chase.

Hitting a home run to help defeat the division leader is about as perfect a start as he could ask for.

McGwire homered for the third game in a row and 22nd time this season and Kent Bottenfield tied for the NL lead with his 11th victory in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-3 victory over the Astros at St. Louis.

“He’s not on a 70 pace, but he’s right there with the league leaders, and with RBIs too,” Manager Tony La Russa said of McGwire, who’s on pace for 52 after his 473-foot shot for a -0 lead. “I’d say he’s doing outstanding.”

Bottenfield (11-3), who never before won more than five games in a season, won for the third time in four starts and tied the Astros’ Jose Lima for the league lead.

Milwaukee 8, San Francisco 1--Hideo Nomo extended his mastery of the Giants, giving up five hits in seven innings and driving in a run with a double as the Brewers won at San Francisco to stop the Giants’ five-game winning streak.

Nomo is 5-0 with a 1.12 ERA in his career at San Francisco. Overall, he is 7-2 against the Giants with a 1.84 ERA.

Nomo (5-1) gave up one run Monday, striking out eight and walking three. He retired 11 consecutive batters in the third through seventh innings.

Cincinnati 7, Arizona 4--Eddie Taubensee hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the 10th inning to lift the Reds over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix.

Pinch-hitter Dmitri Young led off the inning with a double off Vladimir Nunez (1-1) and Taubensee, who went three for four, hit the next pitch over the right-field fence for his seventh homer. One out later, Pokey Reese added an RBI single.