Cardinals Capture Division Championship
S T. L O U I S, Sept. 21, 2000 -- Call Jim Edmonds the St. Louis Cardinals’surrogate Big Mac.
Edmonds’ bat carried the St. Louis offense much of the year, andhis grand slam kick-started the 11-6 victory over the HoustonAstros that clinched the NL Central championship Wednesday night.
After Edmonds’ third-inning slam, the Cardinals homered fourmore times — two each by Ray Lankford and Craig Paquette — to wintheir first division title since 1996.
“I didn’t think it’d be this long,” said Lankford, one of only three players left from the last title. “But it’s sweet. It’s good to be back and we’re definitely going to make the most of it.”
The Cardinals are the first team in the major leagues to clincha postseason berth.
“Edmonds got it started, and we were relentless,” manager TonyLa Russa shouted during a raucous post-game champagne-sprayingcelebration in the clubhouse. “It was just a relentless night.”
A Team Effort
Edmonds has a career-high 41 homers, eight more than hisprevious best in 1995. His power has helped fill the void left byMark McGwire, who missed two months with a knee injury and has beenreduced to pinch-hitting since being activated Sept. 8.
McGwire, 3-for-8 with two homers since his return, was a bitplayer in the clincher. He was hit by a pitch leading off thebottom of the eighth, then removed for a pinch runner because he’sstill having difficulty running and bending.
It’s extremely doubtful he’ll be able to play first base whenthe playoffs begin in the first week of October. But after theclincher, McGwire roamed the clubhouse in search of teammates tospray with champagne, happy not to be the focal point for once.
“This is what baseball is all about,” McGwire shouted. “This is what I’ve been trying to preach the last couple years. It’s a team sport.”
Astros End Winning Streak
The three years after the 1996 title, the Cardinals were acombined 23 games below .500 with the Astros winning the Centraleach time. McGwire, who hit a record 70 homers in 1998 and 65 lastyear, was the only thing the fans cared about.
Not anymore. A sellout crowd was on its feet when Tim Bogarlined to second baseman Fernando Vina for the final out. Asfireworks exploded overhead, the Cardinals rushed to celebrate onthe mound.
The Astros, whose five-game winning streak ended, left quietly.
“I just got off the field as quick as possible,” Bogar said.“I didn’t want to watch the celebration. This is the last thing Iwanted, to watch them celebrate.”
La Russa won his seventh division crown, doing it four times inOakland and once with the Chicago White Sox.
“The latest is always the best one,” La Russa said. “Iguarantee it.”
Richard Hidalgo hit his 41st homer for Houston. Jeff Bagwell hadan RBI double and scored his major league-leading 147th run,breaking the Astros record set by Craig Biggio in 1997.
Record Season
A crowd of 38,653, watching in 59-degree weather, was the 34thsellout of the season for the Cardinals. That broke the team recordset in 1988, one of several on the night. They also:
—Hit consecutive homers for the 15th time, matching the NL markset by the 1956 Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals missed a 16th timewhen Paquette and Lankford connected in the seventh off BrianPowell, with an Edmonds’ strikeout in between.
—Hit their 11th grand slam, extending the team’s single-seasonrecord.
—Hit their 228th homer, breaking the team record of 223 set in1998. That was the year McGwire hit a record 70.
Rookie Rick Ankiel (10-7) was also on his game, allowing threeruns — two earned — on four hits in seven innings with eightstrikeouts. He held the Astros, who had scored 47 runs during theirwinning streak, hitless the first four innings.
“My first year in the big leagues and I get a chance toexperience something like this, it’s amazing,” Ankiel said.
Holt (7-15) lasted four innings, allowing eight runs on eighthits.
“Tonight was just their night,” Holt said. “Every pitch thatI left up, they hit.”
Hidalgo hit his fifth homer in nine games at Busch Stadium thisseason in the sixth. Houston scored twice in the fifth on RaulChavez’s bloop single and a sacrifice fly by Keith Ginter in hisfirst major league plate appearance.
Vina added an RBI single in the fourth for the Cardinals andEdgar Renteria had a run-scoring groundout in the seventh.
Team Notes
Edmonds’ homer was his 40th as an outfielder, a teamrecord. He has hit one as a first baseman. … Roger Cedeno had twohits for Houston and he’s 6-for-6 in the first two games of theseries. … Ankiel has won only four of his last 16 starts, duringwhich he’s 4-4. But the Cardinals are 11-5 in that stretch. … TheCardinals, who lost 8-6 in 10 innings Tuesday, haven’t lostconsecutive games since Aug. 8-9 against the Marlins.