Cards Survive Drew Boos 12-6

It began as a big night at the Vet: Mark McGwire hitting balls to the far reaches of the upper deck and J.D. Drew getting booed beyond belief.

After that, it was all downhill for the Phillies.

Fernando Tatis hit his third grand slam of the season, and the St. Louis Cardinals crashed the Drew booing festival in Philadelphia with a 12-6 victory over the Phillies.

"What feud?" Gant said with a smile after the game.

Drew was booed loudly during batting practice, even though Cardinals bullpen catcher Jeff Murphy tried to decoy fans by wearing Drew's jersey.

"He handled himself well during batting practice," La Russa said.

Then, the Cardinals handled emergency starter Steve Schrenk, asked to start on short notice because 13-game winner Paul Byrd had back spasms.

"It crushed me to see Steve Schrenk have to go out there," said Byrd, who isn't expected to miss another start.

Tatis did the crushing in this game not Drew or McGwire.

McGwire was 2-for-3 with two walks, but remained homerless since hitting his 50th and 501st last Thursday. McGwire, 1-for-10 with no extra-base hits in a four-game series at Pittsburgh, has gone 13 at-bats without a homer. He did put on a tremendous power display in batting practice with nine of his 11 homers landing in the upper deck.

"He hits the ball as far as it's humanly possible," Phillies first baseman Rico Brogna said.

After hitting the first two grand slams of his career in the same inning April 23 at Los Angeles, Tatis his third on Billy Brewer's first pitch in a five-run fourth. With three slams this year, Tatis tied Jim Bottomley (1925) and Keith Hernandez (1977) for the club record.

"I was just being aggressive and got a fastball a little bit away, and boom, I swung," said Tatis, 7-for-10 with 22 RBIs with the bases loaded. "I don't think about that. If you think about that, you're dead."

Gant hit a two-run shot in the first off Kent Mercker (5-4) and a solo shot in the eighth off reliever Heathcliff Slocumb.

Responding to criticism from Gant, La Russa said he hoped the outfielder would go to Philadelphia and "whiff, whiff, whiff." Gant struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth after the Phillies had scored three runs.

Asked if he'd spoken with Gant, La Russa said, "No need to." Asked to elaborate, he said, "Meaning, no need to."

Drew, who had a press conference before the game, was whisked out of the clubhouse with a police escort afterward. La Russa said he briefly considered inserting Drew as a defensive replacement, but decided it would have been a "weak move."

"Something about it didn't feel right," he said.

Alberto Castillo had a three-run double in the third off Schrenk (1-2). Thomas Howard had a two-run double in the first and an RBI double in the third.

Schrenk, who won his first major league start July 28 against Florida while filling in for Curt Schilling, allowed six earned runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings.

"It was really unfair to Steve Schrenk," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "He had already been out doing his running."

Mercker allowed four hits in the first inning, but only two after that. He gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking two.

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