Mark McGwire broke up Mark Gardner’s no-hit bid with a home run with one out in the sixth and drew intentional walks his last two at-bats as the St. Louis Cardinals went on to beat visiting San Francisco 3-2 in 12 innings Thursday.
“You’d be crazy not to,” Giants manager Dusty Baker said. “The guy can miss the ball and still hit it 400 or 500 feet. I don’t like walking Big Mac, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. I’m glad we don’t see him again for a while.”
Eric Davis tripled with one out in the 12th off Jerry Spradlin (0-1) and scored on a wild pitch.
McGwire’s 14th homer was a 427-foot shot into the upper deck in left field. He has homered in six of the last eight games.
Heathcliff Slocumb (1-0) worked a scoreless 12th as the Cardinals snapped the Giants’ six-game winning streak at Busch Stadium.
Braves 8, Brewers 7: Chipper Jones, a home-run hero the previous night, hit a three-run shot and visiting Atlanta beat Milwaukee for its third straight victory.
Jones hit his 12th home run in the third inning, his third homer in the four-game series. On Wednesday his solo drive in the 10th inning gave Atlanta a 3-2 win over the Brewers.
Dodgers 4, Reds 3: Eric Karros homered and Eric Young had a go-ahead two-run double as visiting Los Angeles took advantage of an off-day by Pete Harnisch (4-5), who gave up eight hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings.
Ismael Valdes (5-2) gave up four hits and two runs in five innings. Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances, retiring Sean Casey on a fly ball with runners on first and second to end the game.
Rockies 4, Astros 3: Two wild pitches and a ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Henry Blanco scored the go-ahead run as visiting Colorado avoided a sweep and snapped Houston’s four-game winning streak.
Chris Petersen reached on a force play in the ninth, then moved around to third base on a pair of wild pitches by Trever Miller (0-1). Blanco drove in Petersen with a long fly to left field.
