Reds Beat McGwire, Cardinals 6-3

The crowd was rooting for Mark McGwire to hit one out. In the end, it settled for a homer by Reggie Sanders and another Cincinnati victory.

Sanders drove in three runs with a single and a homer Friday night and the Reds held on for a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before a large crowd there to see McGwire and postgame fireworks.

"That's one of the bonuses of having McGwire around," said Mike Remlinger (5-9), who walked him twice, hit him and got him to fly out. "He's doing great things for baseball."

McGwire thrilled more than 10,000 fans who showed up for batting practice by clearing the wall on 13 of 21 swings, but got to swing the bat only once during the game and flew out. He remains tied with Reggie Jackson for most homers before the All-Star break at 37.

The Reds sold 41,302 tickets almost double their average attendance and had a walkup crowd of 9,338 for McGwire's first regular-season game in Cincinnati. Flashbulbs went off every time he batted and boos filled the stadium when Remlinger walked him twice and hit him in his last three plate appearances.

"It's nice to come out and see him, but I don't think they want to see him come out and beat their team," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "I'm sure not going to let him beat me. I'll let him hit a home run when it's 10-0. I'm sorry, but we're trying to win a game."

Cincinnati got its seventh victory in eight games by roughing up Todd Stottlemyre (9-6), who took his first loss since June 1. He gave up a season-high six runs and lasted a season-low five innings.

"I thought they hit some pretty tough pitches," Stottlemyre said. "When that happens, you've got to step off and get yourself together and find a way to get them out. They put some real good at-bats on me."

Sanders had a single and a two-run homer off Stottlemyre, extending his hitting streak to a season-high nine games. In the last two games, he has a walk, two singles, a double, a triple and a homer.

"I'm getting the opportunity to get geared up to see a lot of pitches," said Sanders, who became the Reds' leadoff hitter by default this season. "I'm just trying to get on base for the other guys."

The Cardinals had a chance to catch up in the eighth, when Remlinger and Scott Sullivan walked three consecutive batters all on four pitches to force in a run with one out and cut it to 6-3. Gabe White struck out Ray Lankford, and Jeff Shaw got Eli Marrero to ground into an inning-ending forceout.

Shaw finished for his 23rd save, sending the Cardinals to their eighth loss in 10 games.

Remlinger got only his second victory since May 6 by limiting the Cardinals to seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. The left-hander was 1-6 with a pair of no-decisions and a 5.63 ERA in his last nine starts, including a two-inning performance last Saturday in Detroit.

Stottlemyre began to struggle after stiking out five in the first two innings. The Reds sent eight batters to the plate for three runs in the third, starting with Sanders' run-scoring single.

Sanders added a two-run homer in the fourth and Pokey Reese singled home another run in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. In the last four games, Sanders is 8-for-17 with six RBIs.

McGwire flew out in his first at-bat, drew an intentional walk with a runner at second base in the third inning, was hit by a pitch in the sixth the ball glanced off his arm and walked on four pitches in the eighth. He leads the major leagues with 84 walks.

McGwire had played only three other games in Cincinnati the 1988 All-Star game and the first two games of the 1990 World Series with Oakland.

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