Eric Davis drove in 3 runs and scored 3 runs Thursday. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Experience tells Eric Davis what the St. Louis Cardinals need to do from now on.

Davis helped the Reds build a big first-half lead in 1990 and hold on to win a division title and a World Series. Ten years later, Davis' current team is in the same position as his first.

Davis, Shawon Dunston and Edgar Renteria homered Thursday in a 12-3 pounding of Cincinnati that stretched the Cardinals' lead back to 8 games in the NL Central. By splitting a four-game series, the Cardinals held their ground and left the Reds running in place. Asked what the Cardinals need to do now, Davis thought back to 1990.

""Not play to the lead,'' said Davis, who was 3-for-4 and drove in three runs. ""You have to play like you don't have a lead. You have to play with an urgency. If you don't, your lead will shrink and you'll be in a dogfight.

""If we had allowed them to win three, they would have taken some momentum,'' Davis said. ""Whether you're up eight games or not, you want to have the momentum. We came in and did what we wanted to do ... split.''

The Cardinals are having their best season since 1987, when they got up by 9 games on July 23 but had the lead shrink to one game as late as Sept. 19. Whitey Herzog's team recovered and won the NL East.

The pitching-deep Cardinals have won 13 of 17 even though Mark McGwire isn't on top of his game. McGwire came into the series on a nine-game hitting streak, but went only 1-for-15 in the series with nine strikeouts. The Cardinals won anyway.

""They got the big hits from the guys who have been making the contributions during the season,'' Reds captain Barry Larkin said. ""We kept Big Mac down and they still scored all those runs, and their pitching is giving them the chance to win the game.''

The past two years, the Reds pitched around McGwire and won. This year, they've gotten McGwire out and lost.

""Last year, they waited for McGwire to hit home runs,'' Reds manager Jack McKeon said. ""This year, they're not counting on McGwire to carry them. Plus, they've got some pretty good pitching, too.''

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