McGwire’s First Isn’t Enough for St. Louis

Mark McGwire hasn’t missed a beat.

The 70-homer man got on the board in a hurry Monday night, hitting his first homer of the season to give St. Louis Cardinal fans at least one reason to sit through two lengthy rain delays on opening day in a 10-8 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis.

Dave Nilsson and Jeromy Burnitz hit two-run homers for the Brewers and Sean Berry hit a three-run shot and a triple that deflected off the glove of rookie center fielder J.D. Drew at the top of the wall.

Burnitz’s fifth-inning homer came off Manny Aybar, whom the pitching-poor Brewers have been trying to acquire in a deal for all-star shortstop Fernando Vina. Vina had two hits and bunted for an RBI single in the Brewers’ four-run fourth.

McGwire briefly pumped some enthusiasm into a blah night for a soaked sellout crowd of 47,806 with a rare opposite-field homer off reliever David Weathers--who was not among his victims last season--in the fifth inning with the Brewers leading, 7-1.

Fans waited in vain for a curtain call after the 402-foot shot to right-center, then hundreds who had hung around for stoppages that totaled almost two hours headed for the exits.

San Francisco 11, Cincinnati 8--Charlie Hayes didn’t figure to play much in the Giants’ opener. Needed because of a first-inning injury, he wound up winning the game with a home run.

Hayes, who took over at third base when Bill Mueller was hurt, committed an error that helped Cincinnati rally, then hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning that provided the final turning point in a wild victory at Cincinnati.

After Cincinnati took an 8-6 lead, the Giants quieted the crowd of 55,112--the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in stadium history--with homers by Ellis Burks and Hayes.

The Giants lost Mueller in the first inning when he was hit by a pitch from Brett Tomko and broke his left big toe. He’s expected to be sidelined at least three weeks.

Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 4--Marlon Anderson spoiled the expected pitching duel between Tom Glavine and Curt Schilling.

The rookie second baseman drove in the three runs to give Schilling and the Phillies the victory at Atlanta.

Schilling gave up five hits and all four runs in six innings, but picked up the win when Anderson came through in the seventh with a two-run single against Glavine, coming off a 20-win season that earned his second Cy Young Award.

Glavine took a 4-3 lead into the seventh, only to give up consecutive singles to Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal. Desi Relaford bunted the runners along before pinch-hitter Kevin Sefcik popped up to short center.

After an intentional walk to Doug Glanville, Anderson blooped a single to center to bring home the tying and winning runs. That knocked out Glavine, who surrendered seven hits, two walks and five runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Florida 6, New York 2--It was just like the good old days for the Marlins: a big crowd in the stands, Alex Fernandez on the mound and plenty of runs on the scoreboard. Fernandez, making his first start since shoulder surgery 18 months ago, outpitched former teammate Al Leiter at Miami.

The victory provided a new start for a struggling franchise that already has a new owner and new manager. An enthusiastic sellout crowd of 38,983 offered evidence that fans are eager to forget last season, when the Marlins lost 108 games as the defending World Series champions.

Fernandez, one of the few holdovers from 1997, pitched out of two early jams and left with a 5-1 lead after throwing 95 pitches in five innings. He retired eight of the last nine hitters he faced and appeared fully recovered from the career-threatening rotator cuff injury diagnosed during the 1997 postseason.

Montreal 9, Pittsburgh 2--Vladimir Guerrero hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Francisco Cordova and drove in four runs to back Dustin Hermanson’s strong pitching and the Expos had 17 hits at Pittsburgh.

The top of the Montreal order tormented Pirate pitching all night, with the No. 1-4 hitters going a combined 10 for 19 with three extra-base hits. The Guerrero brothers combined for six hits--older brother Wilton had two doubles among his three hits.