Thursday, August 16, 2001
Edmonds' hitting picking up
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Bum shoulder or not, Jim Edmonds is starting to hit.
Edmonds homered and drove in four runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to their seventh straight win, 8-4 over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.
His right shoulder has bothered him most of the year and it hurts when he gets full extension on his swing, so he's been encouraged to cut back.
“I had one at-bat and two pitches worth of good days for my shoulder, until I swung at the first changeup,” Edmonds said. “If I could just stay within myself, and really not fly all over the plate at the place, it seems to be OK.”
Edmonds, who is 9-for-19 his last five games with two homers, hit a three-run homer in the first, his 17th, and an RBI single in the fifth. It's Edmonds' third four-RBI game of the season and first since June 24. Edmonds got the day off Tuesday because the Cardinals were facing a left-handed starter.
“You don't get full extension when you pull the ball,” Edmonds said. “It's going out that way anyway.”
Edmonds also made a diving catch on Dmitri Young's sinking liner to end the eighth.
The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 44-23 during the run, which has thrust them back into the NL Central race. St. Louis remained four games behind the Cubs and 2 1/2 games behind second-place Houston.
“It's fun to really believe you're in contention,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We keep putting some wins together and our chances of playing some exciting, meaningful September baseball get better and better.”
Mark McGwire singled to start the fifth against Chris Reitsma (5-13), his first hit other than a homer in 72 at-bats. McGwire's last 11 hits had been homers since he singled off Houston's Roy Oswalt July 18.
The Elias Sports Bureau said the run was unprecedented in the last 25 years. Additional research is unavailable. The closest anybody else came was Albert Belle, who had eight straight hits for home runs in 1995 when he played for the Cleveland Indians.
Since the start of the 1998 season, McGwire has 189 homers and 167 singles.
“I hope we can convince him he's still a good hitter,” La Russa said. “I'm just glad he got some good at-bats.”
Cardinals starter Woody Williams (10-8) had a better day at the plate than on the mound. Williams allowed three runs and six hits in five innings, but singled and scored in the second and had an RBI double and scored in the fourth.
“My pitching stunk,” Williams said. “Pitching five innings makes me feel worthless, almost. I take great pride going deep in the game and I haven't done that since I've been here.”
He's batting .200 (12-for-60) with three doubles and five RBIs, but has given up 31 homers, tied for the NL's worst with Kevin Jarvis of the Padres.
Fernando Vina had an RBI double in the second and Craig Paquette had an RBI single in the fifth for St. Louis.
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Edmonds' hitting picking up
