McGwire, Sosa held homerless

A day after leaving a game at Houston early because of minor back spasms, the St. Louis Cardinals' slugger was a quiet 2-for-4, taking few healthy swings last night in a 7-3 win over Pittsburgh.

McGwire had a two-run single in a four-run second inning off Jason Schmidt (11-12). He has just three singles in 18 at-bats in six games since hitting homer No. 62, and has been caught by the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa.

Against Schmidt, McGwire struck out in the first on a checked swing and grounded out to first on a checked swing in the fourth. In the sixth, he had a rare single to right off Todd Van Poppel on another awkward, incomplete swing.

As a precaution, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he probably won't use McGwire in both games of tonight's doubleheader against the Pirates.

AP PHOTO Mark McGwire went 2-4 with two RBI last night, but he did not hit a home run, leaving him tied with Sammy Sosa at 62.

In batting practice, McGwire appeared to be his old self with eight homers in 16 swings. Two of them reached the upper deck and a third banged off a window in the Stadium Club just below the top deck.

Still, he was probably happy just to be playing. The last time McGwire had back spasms, on June 1 in San Diego, he missed three games.

Jose Jimenez (1-0), making his first career start, held the Pirates to four hits and one run in seven innings. He walked five, including Abraham Nunez three times, and struck out three.

Sammy Update: Sosa, who went 0-for-4 in the Cubs 4-3 loss to the San Diego Padres yesterday, was pretty busy off the field, too. He took calls from President Clinton and Mark McGwire yesterday and issued a plea: How about someone giving back historic home run ball No. 62?

Not for him to keep, though.

"If he comes and gives it to me, that ball's not going to go to my house," Sosa said. "That ball's going to the American people and the Hall of Fame."

Getting it back could be a whole other matter, though.

Sosa tied McGwire in stunning fashion on Sunday, hitting Nos. 61 and 62 out of Wrigley Field onto Waveland Avenue.

Three people claim to be the rightful owner of historic ball No. 62, Chicago police said, and there may be no real way to prove who has it. After McGwire broke the record last week in St. Louis, major league baseball stopped putting a secret mark on balls pitched to him and Sosa.

Both homers set off wild scrambles, and Sosa was asked what he thought about fans practically beating each other up to get to the ball.

"If that were the situation and I weren't a ballplayer, I'd probably be doing (it) the same way," he told about 100 reporters and cameramen crammed into the San Diego Chargers' locker room at Qualcomm Stadium.

09-15-98