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McGwire cranks No. 40 to tie Sosa for ML lead

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Posted: Monday August 02, 1999 06:09 PM

Power steering: Mark McGwire's 13th home run in his last 17 games wasn't enough for the Cardinals on Sunday. AP

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mark McGwire moved within three of 500 career home runs Sunday. He just isn't ready to talk about that milestone yet.

McGwire hit his 40th homer to tie Sammy Sosa for the major league lead in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

McGwire, who hit a three-run homer and an RBI double, took no satisfaction in closing in on 500 since the team did not win.

"You guys always ask me about numbers and I keep saying winning is what I care about," he said.

With the Cardinals trailing 5-1 in the fifth, McGwire homered with two men on to cut the lead to 5-4. McGwire is 8-for-13 with five homers off Brian Bohanon (10-8) and has 13 homers in his last 17 games.

"All I can do is keep coming at him, that's the way I pitch," Bohanon said.

McGwire has 13 home runs in his last 17 games but didn't want to discuss any technical aspects of his hot streak.

"I'm not going to tell you guys, I keep some things to myself," he said.

Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla each had two hits and two RBIs for the Rockies.

The Rockies scored three runs in the third with the help of a balk and a wild pitch by Cardinals starter Jose Jiminez (5-11).

Jiminez has not won since he pitched a two-hit shutout against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 5.

Todd Helton singled and moved to second on a balk. Larry Walker singled and both scored on Bichette's double. Castilla followed with an RBI single.

The Rockies added two more in the fifth on an RBI single by Castilla and a sacrifice fly by Terry Shumpert.

Rockies manager Jim Leyland praised his bullpen for holding the Cardinals scoreless for the last four innings.

The Cardinals had runners on first and third in the seventh, when Jerry Dipoto got McGwire to hit into a double play to end the inning.

Power Trip Fewest ABs to 40 HRs Year Player At-Bats 1998 1996 1928 1920 1969 1999 Mark McGwire Mark McGwire Babe Ruth Babe Ruth Reggie Jackson Mark McGwire 281 294 316 325* 340 342 (* exact at-bat unavailable)

"The pitch that Dipoto made McGwire hit into a double play on was perfect," Leyland said. "There was nothing he could do with it."

Bohanon, who won for the first time since June 20, allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings. Dave Veres pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 26 chances.

The Cardinals scored in the first on a single by J.D. Drew and a run-scoring double by McGwire.

Jiminez gave up five runs and 10 hits in four innings.

 

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