Big Mac eats up No. 63

McGwire, pinch-hitting in the ninth inning, hit his 63rd home run last night to move ahead of Sammy Sosa in the great race. He ended a six-game homer drought with a solo shot off Jason Christiansen in St. Louis' 8-6 loss to Pittsburgh in the first game of a doubleheader.

"He's been doing it for a year and two months, people cheering 'C'mon Mark, we want you to hit one,'" Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Boom, he hits one! How does he do it? I have no idea, except that he's remarkable."

McGwire's swing had been out of sync after he hit his 62nd home run Sept. 8, and he was 3-for-18 with three singles in six games before hitting his sixth career pinch homer.

He had an RBI double and a bases-loaded walk in the Cardinals' 9-3 victory in the second game, and just missed on a couple of other at-bats, hitting high fly balls to right in the third and center in the fifth. He also walked twice, extending his NL record to 154 walks.

The fan who caught the ball had no immediate plans to give it back. McGwire has received every ball from homer No. 56 on, but John Grass, 46, was looking to cash in.

"The ball is worth something to someone and I'd like to have something for it myself," Grass said. "He makes millions of dollars, I don't think there is anything wrong with something coming to me."

Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said he didn't expect the team to negotiate a deal for the ball.

Kevin Young's three-run home run snapped a fifth-inning tie in an opener that featured six homers, two by Cardinals rookie J.D. Drew. Young's homer off Donovan Osborne (4-4) snapped a 2-for-35 slump.

Sean Lawrence (2-1), the third Pittsburgh pitcher, allowed a run in 2 1-3 innings. Rich Loiselle got two outs for his 19th save.

In the second game, Drew and Brian Jordan also had RBI doubles in a three-run first against Jose Silva (6-5). A fourth run scored on a two-out throwing error by third baseman Aramis Ramirez in the third.

09-16-98