Cards Catch Marlins Off Guard

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

May 17, 1998 / 11:21 PM EDT / CBS Sportsline

Brian Jordan is doing what he can to make teams pay for pitching around Mark McGwire.

Jordan, who bats cleanup behind McGwire, burned Florida Sunday by going 5-for-5 with a home run and four RBI as the Cardinals defeated the Marlins 13-4.

It was the first five-hit game by a Cardinal this year and the first of Jordan's career. Over his last nine games, Jordan is hitting .515 (17-for-33) with four home runs and 11 RBI. He is 9-for-13 in the series with the Marlins, with a game remaining Monday.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was not surprised.

"It's just a matter of time before he had a five-hit game," La Russa said. "He's been swinging the bat so well. One of the most attractive things in baseball is a hungry hitter that goes up there scratching for a hit every time up."

The Cardinals need such a hitter behind McGwire, who has been on pace to break the major-league record for walks in a season.

"Brian is a true clutch hitter and he gets a lot of respect around the league," La Russa said. "He can handle the four spot."

Jordan said he is fine batting cleanup, particularly if teams pitch around McGwire.

"I'm in a fortunate situation," he said. "If they want to walk Mark, I can drive in a lot of runs he's not."

The Marlins put Jordan on the spot in the very first inning when Marlins starter Chris Hammond retired the first two batters, then threw four straight out of the strike zone to McGwire. Jordan followed with his eighth home run just over the fence in center field to make it 2-1.

"The big thing on everybody's mind when they're pitching against St. Louis is Mark McGwire," Hammond said. "They don't want to add onto the record book home runs that he's been hitting."

Two innings later, Jordan picked the Cardinals up after McGwire struck out with runners on second and third and one out by singling home Royce Clayton to give the Cardinals the lead again at 3-2.

"I'm comfortable there," Jordan said. "I proved that in '96 when I drove in 104 runs. I'm more relaxed and it's going to make the No. 3 hitter better."

Jordan added a single in the sixth and a bad-hop double off third baseman Todd Zeile's glove in the eighth.

With the loss, the Marlins fell 16 games below .500 (14-30) for the first time since 1995, and tied the 1995 team's record for the worst start in franchise history for 44 games. Florida is 1-6 on its eight-game road trip.

"Everybody's upset by this," said Marlins manager Jim Leyland. "But we're doing the best we can to save this franchise for South Florida. I don't blame people for being upset." Mike Piazza drove in his second run in as many games with a first-inning single, his first hit as a Marlin. Derrek Lee drove in the other run with a two-out single in the third.

But Hammond (0-2) needed much more help than that. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

The Cardinals also tagged reliever Rob Stanifer, who took over for Hammond, for three runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Cardinals starter Kent Mercker (3-2), who had allowed 18 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings in his previous four starts, wasn't much more effective. Mercker gave up 11 hits and four runs, but lasted 5 2/3 innings to get the win.

"I didn't pitch great and I didn't pitch terrible," Mercker said. "But I got the win, so that means I did what I was supposed to do, keep the team in the game."

Delino DeShields helped Mercker out by hitting a two-run homer, and Ray Lankford went 2-for-4 with a two-run double and three runs scored. Tom Pagnozzi also went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the Cardinals.

Florida got off to a good start when Piazza drove home Edgar Renteria with one out in the first to make it 1-0. But Hammond, who retired the first two batters, pitched around McGwire and paid for it when Jordan hit a 2-1 pitch over the center-field wall.

The Cardinals took the lead for good in the third on RBI singles by Jordan and Gary Gaetti to make it 4-2.

St. Louis scored three more times in the fourth on Lankford's two-run double and a single by Jordan. DeShields hit his 50th career home run, a two-run shot, off Stanifer in the fifth to make it 9-2.

Florida got it to 9-4 on Mark Kotsay's two-run single in the sixth.

The Cardinals scored four runs in the eighth on a bases-loaded hit batter and a three-run triple by David Howard.

Notes

After finalizing their trade with the Dodgers Friday, and calling up outfielder Todd Dunwoody , infielder Ryan Jackson and pitcher Oscar Henriquez from the minors Saturday, the Marlins completed a 20-percent turnover of their 25-man roster in two days.

Manny Aybar , recalled from Class-AAA Memphis Saturday, will start for St. Louis in Monday's series finale.

Florida's Kotsay is batting .414 for the first seven games of the road trip (12-for-29) and has raised his average to .307.

St. Louis has homered in a season-high nine straight games.

With his second-inning single, Hammond set a new team record for most career hits by a pitcher with 30.

Lance Painter , the lone left-hander in the Cardinals' bullpen, has allowed only four hits in 25 at-bats (.160) against left-handed batters.