Mcgwire’s 58th One For The Books

Mark McGwire hit his 58th home run, tying him for the most by a right-handed batter, in the St. Louis Cardinals’ season-ending 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs Sunday.

McGwire tied the mark set in 1932 by Jimmie Foxx and equaled in 1938 by Hank Greenberg. Only Roger Maris, who had 61 in 1961, and Babe Ruth, who had 60 in 1927 and 59 in 1921, have hit more.

The feat is all the more impressive considering McGwire changed leagues in midseason. Since joining St. Louis, he had 24 homers in 51 games.

McGwire walked on five pitches in the first inning and took a called third strike in the third. In the sixth, he homered to center field on an 0-2 pitch, a drive estimated at 414 feet.

Rockies 13, Dodgers 9

Denver

Dante Bichette homered for the second time, a two-run shot in the eighth, and Colorado overcame a pair of two-run homers by Mike Piazza.

The Rockies homered three times, finishing with an N.L. record 239.

Dodgers center fielder Brett Butler received a standing ovation as he concluded his 17-year M.L. career, going 1 for 4 with a two-run triple.

Butler, 40, finished the year hitting .283. It gave him a career average of .290 with 2,375 hits in 8,180 at-bats. He scored 1,359 runs and ranks 22nd among basestealers with 558. His 1,129 walks rank 48th.

Piazza became the first Dodger to reach 40 since Duke Snider in 1957.

Piazza finished with a .362 average, the team’s best since Lefty O’Doul hit .368 in 1932.

Piazza finished just short of the record average for catchers, set by Bill Dickey with the New York Yankees in 1936.

Dickey hit .3617 to Piazza’s .3615.

Reds 11, Expos 3

Montreal

Cincinnati’s Mike Remlinger carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before settling for a four-hitter.

Remlinger (8-8) retired the first 20 batters before rookie Jose Vidro hit a two-out double to left-center in the seventh. The left-hander tossed his second compete game, his first since June 15, 1991 with San Francisco.

Remlinger matched a career-high with nine strikeouts and walked three, improving to 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in his final seven starts. He lost his shutout bid when the Expos scored three runs in the eighth.

Phillies 8, Marlins 7

Philadelphia

Rex Hudler’s solo homer in the seventh inning, the fifth homer of the game, won it for Philadelphia.

Gary Sheffield hit a grand slam for the Marlins.

The Phillies went 44-33 after the All-Star break.

Ricky Bottalico pitched the ninth and matched his career high with 34 saves.

Florida’s Charles Johnson set an N.L. record by going through a season of more than 100 games without committing an error.

Padres 5, Giants 3 (11)

San Francisco

San Diego’s Derrek Lee hit his first major league homer, a three-run shot off Cory Bailey (0-1) in the 11th.

Pirates 5, Astros 4 (11) Houston Jose Guillen homered, drove in three runs and scored the winning run in the 11th inning.

Houston’s Craig Biggio pinch-ran in the fourth inning, appearing in his club-record 381st straight game, the second longest streak in the majors behind Baltimore’s Cal Ripken.

Mets 8, Braves 2

New York

John Olerud, possibly playing his last game for New York, hit a three-run homer off Denny Neagle.

Matt Franco led off the eighth with his third pinch-hit homer this season. The Mets lead the majors with 11 pinch homers.

Neagle (20-5) was hoping to boost his Cy Young chances, but lost his second straight start.