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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- For Rick Ankiel, it's home sweet home.
Ankiel dominated at Busch Stadium again with six strong innings,
and Craig Paquette hit a three-run homer as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 7-2 in a rain shortened game Tuesday night.
"Everything I've heard about him is true," Giants manager
Dusty Baker said. "You don't see many 20-year-olds like him."
The game was called in the top of the ninth after an hour and 29
minute rain delay.
Ellis Burks' two-run homer in the second was the only damage
against Ankiel, who allowed three hits, walked three and struck out
eight. Ankiel (6-3) worked on nine days' rest so he could pitch at
home, where he's 5-0 with a 2.52 ERA; he's 1-3 with a 5.83 ERA on
the road.
"I don't think there's any significant reason why I'm not good
on the road," Ankiel said. "I feel comfortable here. You've been
out here so many times, you start getting used to everything."
Ankiel didn't appear to mind getting skipped in the rotation.
The shift means none of the rest of his starts before the break
will be on the road.
"I felt real strong in the first and second innings and I think
it hurt me a little bit," Ankiel said. "I think I was trying to
throw it too hard and muscle it. But you take the ball when you get
it."
Paquette hit his sixth homer, and first since May 25, off Russ
Ortiz (3-7) as the Cardinals broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the
fifth. Jim Edmonds added his 21st homer, an RBI single and a
home-run robbing catch high above the center-field wall of Burks to
end the fourth.
Edmonds leaped and grabbed onto the top of the eight-foot-high
wall and caught the ball with his free arm.
"It was one of the best plays I've seen in years," Baker said.
Edmonds wasn't bragging.
"They're all exciting to me," he said. "I've climbed on the
wall plenty of times and not been able to catch anything, too, so
it works both ways."
Edmonds homered in the third to tie the score 2-2, and drove in
a run with his hit in the fifth.
"I was very disappointed in my first-inning strikeout and I
just tried to make up for it," Edmonds said. "I just tried to go
out there and do my job."
Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, 1-2 in the majors in home runs,
had fairly quiet nights. Bonds, who has 26 homers, struck out his
first three at-bats, while McGwire, who needs one homer to tie Mike
Schmidt for seventh on the career list at 548, singled and scored,
walked and struck out twice.
The NL Central-leading Cardinals, who've won seven of eight, are
11 games above .500 (40-29), matching their season best.
The Giants have lost 13 of 16 on the road and dropped to .500
overall.
Ortiz lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits
with five walks and five strikeouts. Ortiz, who won 18 games last
season, has given up 21 earned runs in 22 innings and is 0-2 his
last four starts.
Ray Lankford, who was in a 2-for-15 skid, had an RBI single in
the first for St. Louis. Pinch-hitter Larry Sutton singled and
eventually scored on Edgar Renteria's sacrifice fly to make it 7-2
in the sixth.
Game notes
Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny threw out Ramon Martinez and Calvin Murray attempting to steal, and is 19-for-34 on the season. ... The Cardinals didn't win their 40th game last season until July 5. ... Jeff Kent was 0-for-1 with two walks, ending a 10-game RBI streak. The NL RBI leader with 66, Kent had 14 during the streak. ... Burks is batting .382 career against the Cardinals with 17
homers and 51 RBI. ... St. Louis starters lead the majors with 38
victories, with relievers contributing only two.
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