• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

La Russa Wins 2,000th As Cardinals Cruise

Posted on: Thursday, 11 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

Albert Pujols gave St. Louis manager Tony La Russa some time to enjoy his 2,000th victory. Pujols hit two home runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals had a total of four in taking an early lead and cruising to a 10-2 home victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.

"Had an opportunity to run through a lot of memories," said La Russa, 2,000-1,782 in 25 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis. "It has meaning. I've been lucky. I don't take it for granted."

La Russa is the eighth manager to win 2,000 games. He trails Leo Durocher by nine wins for seventh place.

Pujols hit his 40th and 41st homers, raising his NL-leading average to .367 and moving into first place in the homer chase, one ahead of San Francisco's Barry Bonds. Pujols' three RBIS gave him 121, eight behind Colorado's Preston Wilson, who had one Wednesday.

J.D. Drew and Scott Rolen had two-run homers for St. Louis.

Pujols hit a two-run homer off starter Scott Elarton (3-4) as part of a five-run fourth. The inning also featured Drew's 471-foot homer, his 14th, into the upper deck in right field - just the third ball hit into the upper deck at Busch Stadium this season.

Pujols also hit a solo shot to center off reliever Adam Bernero in the seventh.

In other NL games, it was Florida 7, New York 3; Montreal 8, Chicago 4; Atlanta 4, Philadelphia 2; Pittsburgh 3, Cincinnati 2; Houston 3, Milwaukee 1; Arizona 5, Los Angeles 4; and San Francisco 7, San Diego 1.

St. Louis' Brett Tomko (12-8) pitched a six-hitter and had two hits, raising his average to .291. He struck out eight and walked none in his second complete game of the season and seventh of his career. Charles Johnson hit his 18th homer off Tomko in the fifth.

Tomko was 2-5 in mid-June. Since then, he's 10-3.

"I still think about it - if I had shown up the first two months what kind of season I might have had," Tomko said.

Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 4

At Phoenix, pinch-hitter Steve Finley's three-run homer capped a five-run rally in the eighth as Arizona beat Los Angeles.

Matt Mantei worked a perfect ninth for his 22nd save as the Diamondbacks snapped a five-game home losing skid and ended the Dodgers' five-game winning streak.

Arizona's Oscar Villarreal (8-7) got the win by working the eighth inning - his NL-record 79th appearance by a rookie.

Giants 7, Padres 1

At San Diego, Edgardo Alfonzo hit a two-run homer and Ray Durham and Jose Cruz Jr. added solo homers for San Francisco.

Kirk Rueter (8-5) won for the first time in 10 starts. He allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings.

San Francisco scored four runs in the first inning off Brian Lawrence (8-15), who allowed Durham's homer on the third pitch of the game.

Marlins 7, Mets 3

At New York, Juan Encarnacion and Derrek Lee hit back-to-back doubles that broke a fifth-inning tie and helped Florida beat New York.

It was the 11th victory in 13 games for the Marlins, who took a one-game lead over Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race. The loss was the seventh straight for the Mets.

Braves 4, Phillies 2

At Atlanta, Javy Lopez homered to give the Braves a franchise-record 216 this season, and Atlanta rebounded from a big loss to beat Philadelphia.

A day earlier, Philadelphia won 18-5, the fifth time this season the Braves have lost by 10 or more runs. Each time, they've won the next game.

Horacio Ramirez (10-4) won his second straight decision, allowing six hits in seven innings.

The major league record for homers in a season is 257, set by the Baltimore Orioles in 1996. The Houston Astros hold the NL mark of 249, set in 2000.

Pirates 3, Reds 2

At Cincinnati, pinch-hitter Rob Mackowiak hit a two-run homer off Chris Reitsma in the ninth for Pittsburgh.

The Reds struck out 12 times to set the club record for strikeouts in a season with 1,189. They struck out 1,188 times last year. Cincinnati has struck out 10 or more times in 40 of their 145 games.

Astros 3, Brewers 1

At Milwaukee, Jeriome Robertson won his 14th game, the most among rookies the season, and Houston regained sole possession of first place in the NL Central.

Houston, which scored three runs in the first inning, had been tied for the lead with Chicago since Monday.

Robertson (14-7) matched the Astros' rookie record for wins, set when Roy Oswalt went 14-3 two years ago, and sent Milwaukee to its sixth straight loss.

Expos 8, Cubs 4

At San Juan, Puerto Rico, pinch-hitter Jose Macias hit a go-ahead double in a five-run eighth inning, and Montreal overcame a four-run deficit to beat Chicago.

Chicago was ahead 4-0 behind Matt Clement, who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning.

All of the Cubs' runs scored on homers off Livan Hernandez.

More News in this Category