Mcgwire’s 50th Links Him To Babe

National League

Mark McGwire joined Babe Ruth as the only players to hit 50 homers in consecutive seasons, but the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the San Francisco Giants 7-6 Wednesday on Damon Berryhill’s RBI single in the 10th inning.

McGwire led off the third inning with a 446-foot drive, his 16th homer since St. Louis acquired him from Oakland on July 31.

McGwire, who hit a major league-leading 52 homers for the Athletics last season, became the first player with back-to-back 50-homer seasons since Ruth did it in 1927 and 1928. Ruth also accomplished the feat in 1920 and 1921.

McGwire, back in the Bay area for the first time since the trade, became the sixth player to reach 50 homers twice, joining Ruth - who did it four times - and Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Ralph Kiner.

McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr., who is stuck on 50 homers for the Seattle Mariners, became only the fifth pair of players to hit 50 homers in the same season.

Braves 7, Dodgers 0 Los Angeles

Tom Glavine, who often struggles against Los Angeles, pitched a four-hitter and Ryan Klesko homered and drove in three runs as Atlanta beat the Dodgers.

The loss was the third straight for the Dodgers, whose lead over San Francisco in the N.L. West was cut to a half-game.

The Giants beat St. Louis 7-6 in 10 innings earlier in the day.

Mets 10, Phillies 2 New York

Butch Huskey and Alex Ochoa each drove in three runs as New York averted a three-game sweep against Philadelphia.

The Mets, six games behind Florida in the wild-card race, stopped the Phillies’ winning streak at four.

Padres 4, Marlins 3 San Diego

Tony Gwynn singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, leading San Diego over Florida and sending the Marlins to their fifth loss in six games.

Florida dropped 6-1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the N.L. East.

Expos 5, Pirates 4 Montreal

Pittsburgh again failed to gain ground on Houston in the N.L. Central when Pedro Martinez pitched seven strong innings to lead Montreal over the Pirates.

Rockies 9, Astros 7 Denver

Dante Bichette hit a grand slam and Larry Walker got his 43rd homer, leading Colorado over Houston and sending the Astros to their 10th loss in 13 games.

Cubs 3, Reds 1 Cincinnati

Kevin Tapani won his fourth consecutive start and Mark Grace had three hits, leading Chicago over Cincinnati.

Clearing the bases

New York Mets catcher Todd Hundley will miss 2-3 days because an injured right elbow that, for the time being, will not require surgery. … With his 43rd double, Mike Lansing established a Montreal record for doubles in a season by a second baseman, surpassing Dave Cash, who set the previous record with 42 in 1977. … Ron Gant, who set a Cardinals record with his 148th strikeout of the season on Tuesday night, fanned three more times… . Craig Biggio has played in a club-record 363 consecutive games for Houston.