McGwire Stacks Up 3 In Cards' Win

Mark McGwire is right back on track.

McGwire hit three home runs, breaking an eight-game homerless drought, as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-5 Tuesday night.

"I've just been feeling loose at the plate," McGwire said. "It's just a matter of seeing pitches to drive. That's all there is to it."

After tying Willie Mays' major league record by homering in the first four games of the season, McGwire hadn't homered since April 4. He has seven homers -- all at Busch Stadium -- and 22 RBIs.

However, he's not worrying about his early-season accomplishments or chasing any records.

"You can't think that way," McGwire said. "It's such a long season. Today's over and done with. I'll think about it and enjoy it on the way home, but tomorrow's another day."

McGwire hitA two-run homer in the third, a solo homer in the fifth and added another two-run shot in the eighth with a 462-footer off Barry Manuel. It was his first three-home run game since June 11, 1995, for Oakland against Boston.

However, McGwire admitted this one was special. His son, Matthew, was the Cardinals bat boy and McGwire was brought out of the Cardinals' dugout after each homer by the 31,477 fans.

"I've had some great exciting games and years in Oakland," McGwire said. "But this is on another level. It's really thrilling."

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, who managed McGwire for nine seasons in Oakland, has seen it all before.

"I'm always amazed by him," La Russa, said. "I'm not sure if I can come up with any other words to describe him. I'll let you guys who are more creative with words come up with words to describe what a special thing we have here at Busch Stadium."

Cardinals starter Kent Mercker said that McGwire doesn't get enough credit for being a disciplined hitter.

"He's not a .220 hitter that hits 50 home runs," Mercker said. "He's a .300 hitter who takes a lot of walks. He's disciplined enough not to swing at a lot of pitcher's pitches that are just outside the strike zone."

The last Cardinal to hit three homers in a game was Mark Whiten, who hit four in the second game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati on Sept. 7, 1993.

"Wow," said Arizona's Matt Williams, who hit the first grand slam in Diamondbacks history in the fourth inning. "We don't need Mark to start doing that."

The Diamondbacks have lost six straight games and are 1-8 on their first road trip.

"There's no excuses here," Willias said. "We're all in the big leagues and we let it all hang out. We want to win and it didn't happen tonight."

Brian Jordan homered and had four RBIs for the Cardinals.

In the thrid, McGwire, who averages a home run every 11.9 at-bats, hit a two-run shot off Jeff Suppan to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

McGwire, who went 3-for-3 with two walks, hit his sixth of the year -- and first solo shot -- with one out in the fifth to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead.

Mike Busby (2-0) got the win in relief despite allowing a home run to Kelly Stinnett in the seventh that tied it 5-5.

But the Cardinals scored six runs with two outs in the seventh to take an 11-5 lead.

Clint Sodowsky (0-1) allowed a leadoff double to Willie McGee in the seventh, and with two outs, the Diamondbacks intentionally walked McGwire. Lankford followed with an RBI single off Omar Daal and Jordan hit a two-run double against Scott Brow.

Tom Lampkin's bases-loaded single brought in two more runs, and McGee's second hit of the inning, a single, scored Gary Gaetti to make it 11-5.

Williams' grand slam in the fourth was the sixth of his career and first since Sept. 9, 1995.

Mercker allowed four runs and three hits in six innings.

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