ST. LOUIS - GAME RECAPS

June 17th - St. Louis 8 Chicago White Sox 3 - Attendance 41,515.

Wily veteran David Wells got the start for the Sox while St. Louis sent rookie Bud Smith to the hill for his first major league start. You would expect an easy Chisox victory, but Wells wasn't at the top of his game while Smith showed why he is one of the top pitching prospects in the game. After Chicago went quickly in the first, St. Louis came out firing. Edgar Renteria led off with a single and Placido Polanco followed with another. After J.D. Drew struck out, Mark McGwire singled home Renteria and Albert Pujols followed with a ground rule double to make it 2-0. After Bobby Bonilla struck out, Tom Paquette singled in two more runs and St. Louis was in command 4-0.

In the bottom of the third, J.D. Drew led off and was hit on his hand with a Wells fastball. It looked painful but Drew stayed in the game. McGwire followed and was called out on strikes. He vehemently disagreed and was tossed out of the game by home plate umpire Mike Everitt. It's pretty disappointing to see Big Mac out of the game in the 3rd inning, but St. Louis had more pressing concerns. With one out in the 5th, Polanco doubled. Drew was in the on-deck circle, but he was called back - as it turned out his hand was broken when he was hit by the pitch and he would be out for 4-6 weeks. A huge blow for the Cards, raising questions about their depth. In this game, however, they seemed to have enough to contend. After Ray Lankford struck out pinch hitting for Drew,  McGwire's replacement Kerry Robinson bunted - Wells fielded the ball but threw wild allowing Polanco to score and make it 5-0. 

The White Sox scored 3 in the 6th inning, including a Magglio Ordonez 2-run homer, but that was all they could muster. Although Smith was removed after the third run scored, the bullpen pitched very well, and Robinson hit his first career home run to give the Cards some insurance in their 8-3 victory. This was not a close game, but it has a lot of interesting sidebars, so it gets a 7/10.

June 18th - St. Louis 6 Chicago Cubs 2 - Attendance 40,016.

Darryl Kile was on the mound for the Redbirds against Kevin Tapani in the first of four critical games in the NL Central race. St. Louis scored early on a Fernando Vina single in the 2nd, but Chicago replied in the third with an Eric Young home run. It stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the 5th. With two out, Polanco singled and Jim Edmonds was hit by a pitch. McGwire was up next and he smacked the first pitch to deep left field for a 3-run homer and a 4-1 Cards lead.

In the top of the 6th, Sammy Sosa came up with 1 out and followed suit, crushing a pitch to center to bring the Cubs back within 2. It was the 6th time both McGwire and Sosa have homered in the same game, but that was as close as the Cubs would get this time. Edmonds hit a 2-run shot in the 7th to give the Cards a 6-2 lead and that was the way the game would end.

However, there was one more highlight to occur. In the bottom of the 8th, Mike Timlin was scheduled to hit. But of course, a pinch-hitter was brought in and it was none other than Stubby Clapp!! All-Canadian hero who we had seen in Salt Lake while he was toiling for Memphis. This would be his first ever major league at-bat and we would witness it live. We were so excited, but the at-bat ended quickly with a strike out. But with McGwire and Sosa homering and Stubby getting his first major league action, this game will be long remembered and gets a 9/10.

June 19th - St. Louis 3 Chicago Cubs 2 - Attendance 40,715.

All-Star Matt Morris faced Jason Bere in the second game of this series. A great game with only one run scoring in the first 6 innings, on an RBI double by Lankford in the 2nd.

In the Cub 7th, Joe Girardi led off with a single and Jason Bere tried to sacrifice him to second, but a throwing error by Morris left men on 1st and 2nd with none out. A successful sacrifice by Young and then a Ricky Gutierrez sac fly and the game was tied at 1.

But in the bottom of the 7th, the Cards got two runs with two out. Mike Matheny singled and Morris hit a ball to deep short. Gutierrez flubbed the throw and both runners advanced. Fernando Vina then bunted for a single and the go-ahead run and Polanco followed with another single to make it 3-1. 

The Cubs threatened in the top of the 9th. With 2 out, Gutierrez doubled and scored on Sosa's weak single. This brought Ron Coomer to the plate and he lined the first pitch down third base - right into Polanco's glove - a fantastic play to end the game. 

This game was very exciting with the result decided on the final pitch. and gets an 8/10. 

Pujols flies out