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Among the 24,000 who attended the Monday night midseason game between new division rivals, the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals, few would have thought the results were in doubt after the Redbirds built an 11-0 lead after three innings. Probably many Astro fans left and many watching on television switched to another channel. The folks who did leave missed the greatest comeback in team history. By the time it was done, the Astros had pulled off a double-digit inning and a thrilling 15-12 comeback victory.
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In the newly-formed National League Central Division, the Astros began the day at 52-40, 2-1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds for the division lead. The Cardinals were 42-46, tied with Pittsburgh for third. Brian Williams entered the game with a 5-5 record but a 5.55 ERA. His mound opponent, Allen Watson, was hardly better - featuring a 6-4 record and a 5.10 ERA. The matchup had the potential for a high-scoring game and they did not disappoint.
Cards Jump Out Early
Before an out had been recorded, the game had already seen a hit batsman, a wild pitch, a passed ball and an error to go with two singles. After a double play, Mark Whiten drilled a two-bagger that gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
In the second, Bernard Gilkey drove home Tom Pagnozzi with a base hit then came home on a homer to right by Gregg Jefferies that upped the lead to 6-0. That brought Houston's new manager Terry Collins out of the dugout to pull Williams. Righthander Tom Edens was summoned from the bullpen. Ray Lankford singled and stole second as soon as Edens came in then he scored on a double from Todd Zeile before Whiten struck out to end the inning.
The Cardinals continued feasting in the garden of Edens in the third. A double, a triple followed by three singles brought in four more runs that made the score 11-0. The Astrodome crowd certainly couldn't have been very optimistic at this point.
A Small Comeback
As Mike Felder, a veteran reserve outfielder with his fourth team, stepped into the batters box in the bottom of the third to pinch-hit for Edens, he had no hint how important he would be to the night's events. After he tapped a grounder to third, Felder stayed in the game replacing Steve Finley in center field.
Watson had scattered two hits and a walk in the first three innings but began to have problems in the fourth. Luis Gonzalez spanked a double to deep left-center and scored on a two-out single by Tony Eusebio. Andujar Cedeno then slapped a double and Felder plated Eusebio with an infield hit that Ozzie Smith had no play for.
Jeff Bagwell started the fifth inning with a home run into the mezzanine seats in left center that put some life back in the remaining crowd. Two outs later, Cedeno drove in James Mouton with a double that added more hope. But the Cardinals still led, 11-4, after five innings so enthusiasm was tempered.
An 11-Run Frame
Craig Biggio opened the bottom of the sixth with a walk. Kevin Bass, pinch-hitting for Mike Hampton, drilled a double to left that brought Biggio all the way home from first. Cardinals Manager Joe Torre had finally seen enough and pulled Watson with an 11-5 lead. Frank Cimorelli was brought in to face Bagwell.
The rookie righthander must have breathed a sigh of relief when he jammed Bagwell into a pop up for the first out but the relief was short-lived after he walked Ken Caminiti and allowed an RBI single to Gonzalez. Cimorelli plunked Mouton to load the bases.
Eusebio then worked a walk which scored Caminiti and dropped the lead to four. Cimorelli got the hook and Bryan Eversgerd tried to quell the uprising. Cedeno greeted Eversgerd with a single to center for two more runs.
Tiny Felder's Triumph
The 5-8, 160-lb. Felder spanked the third pitch from Eversgerd deep into the gap in right-center. As two runners scored ahead of him, Felder sped into third with a game-tying triple. The Astros were all the way back at 11-11.
Biggio then beat out a roller to third but it was not enough to get Felder home. Bass got the job done with a single to left-center, scoring Felder with the go-ahead run. Torre was wearing out a path in the Astroturf and now he made his third pitching change of the inning, turning to call-up Steve Dixon.
Before Dixon could get comfortable, Biggio swiped second and Bagwell walked to re-load the bases. Caminiti then drilled a liner to left that fell for a two-run single, expanding Houston's lead to 14-11. Gonzalez walked and the sacks were full yet again. Mouton lofted a fly to right that scored Bagwell and Eusebio bounced out to third to end the carnage. The inning's totals: 16 batters, 11 runs, seven hits, two left on base. Bass had two hits, scored twice and got to stay in the game as Collins brought Todd Jones in from the Houston bullpen.
Jones Closes The Door
Jones quieted the Cardinals until the top of the ninth when Pagnozzi singled home Whiten to make it 15-12. Jones then struck out pinch-hitter Gerald Perry to end the three-hour-and-20-minute contest.
The Cardinals got their revenge the next night with a 10-0 shutout but Houston's bats resurfaced later in the week, dropping the Pirates by scores of 13-6, 11-0 and 13-1.
For Felder, it was the last hurrah of a 10-season major league career. The California native never earned as many as 350 at bats in any season but the switch-hitter compiled a .249 career average.
It was barely more than a week ago that Astros manager Terry Collins was saying, "We're not one of the real great catchup teams when we're down a lot of runs."
That's what he said after one of Brian Williams' all-too-typical starting efforts. But Collins had to revise that assessment Monday night after another one of Williams' all-too-typical starting efforts.
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Williams, with a little help from his friends in the field and the bullpen, dug a quick, deep hole in the Astrodome. But amazingly, the Astros recovered from an 11-0 deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 15-12.
The comeback tied the largest in National League history by the 1952 Cardinals and 1976 Philadelphia Phillies. The Astros' previous biggest comeback was seven runs, accomplished several times in club history. The Astros, who themselves blew an 8-0 lead to lose a game in Pittsburgh last week, have such erratic starting pitching and explosive offense that it appears virtually no lead can be counted safe, either for or against.
On a night when good pitching was hard to find, 22-year-old lefthander Mike Hampton was the well-deserved winner in this game. He pitched two perfect innings of relief to raise his won-lost record to 2-1 and lower his earned-run average to 2.92. The loser was Bryan Eversgerd, who fell to 2-1.
It was almost enough to make the Astros forget that what was supposed to be their greatest strength is now a major problem. Call it starter trouble.
The comeback didn't entirely obscure a very real problem of shaky starting pitching once you get past the resurgent Pete Harnisch and All-Star Doug Drabek, who has been stuck on 10 wins for a month. Greg Swindell, who couldn't win with an 8-0 lead, and Darryl Kile, tonight's starter who leads the National League in walks, inspire little confidence. Both have ERAs above 4.00. And when you get down to the No. 5 starter, Williams, the numbers get uglier than Don King's coiffure.
In 1-2/3 innings Monday, Williams surrendered six hits and six runs (four earned), while also hitting one batter and unfurling a wild pitch. It was not entirely an aberration. In his last six starts, pitching 24-2/3 innings, Williams has allowed 34 hits, 14 walks and 24 runs. His ERA for the season is 5.92.
Not that he's always dreadful. He started out the season 0-2 with a 7.89 ERA and was demoted to Tucson. Then he was recalled and went 4-0. Then came his current 1-3 stretch. The question is, how much longer will the Astros ride his see-saw?
It's not that there's no alternative. Shane Reynolds, who pitched seven shutout innings of relief Sunday, is 7-4 for the season (3.27 ERA) and was little short of brilliant in his 10 starting efforts. However, Collins has a valid reason for keeping Reynolds 'penned. Reynolds is, in a sense, a victim of his own versatility. He excels as a reliever, starter or combination thereof. Williams, on the other hand, has never shown any aptitude for relieving. So he gets to start.
Even though his starts often go much like the one Monday night. Williams hit the game's leadoff batter, Bernard Gilkey, and wild-pitched him to second base. Then Williams gave up a single to Ozzie Smith that might have been an out if Smith, instead of Andujar Cedeno, were playing shortstop. Cedeno made a belated, awkward dive for the ball but didn't come up with it. Smith reached second on a passed ball by Scott Servais.
The next batter, Gregg Jefferies, singled sharply to left field, scoring Gilkey. Then Ray Lankford was safe on a hard grounder that second baseman Craig Biggio failed to retrieve, for an error, as Smith scored. After Todd Zeile lined into a double play, Mark Whiten singled in Jefferies for a 3-0 lead.
In the second inning, Tom Pagnozzi doubled, Gilkey singled and Jefferies homered (his 10th), to bring the hook from Collins. So the torch was passed to Tom Edens, who kept it burning. Edens gave up five runs -- all earned -- in his 1-1/3 innings of so-called relief.
The Astros, who have been pounding the ball recently, fought back from the 11-0 deficit left by Williams and Edens to make the score 11-4 after five innings. One of the runs came on Jeff Bagwell's 29th home run, which was served up by Cardinals starter Allen Watson.
The Astros broke loose for 11 runs in the sixth inning -- one short of a club record set in the eighth inning in a game in Philadelphia on May 31, 1975. The Astros' eight hits in Monday's sixth inning were also one short of the team record, set in Cincinnati in the 12th inning on June 2, 1966.
Watson was lifted after walking in a run, and the Astros scored four runs in one-third of an inning off reliever Frank Cimorelli. Mike Felder hit a two-run triple to tie the game at 11-11. By now the crowd of 24,012 was standing and cheering wildly, taking a cue from the arm-waving Felder.
Biggio's single against Eversgerd scored Felder to give Houston a 12-11 lead, and it was 15-11 before the Cardinals' ragged bullpen could find the exit.
Do you believe in miracles, Houston?
After Monday night, the answer has to be a resounding: "Yes!"
A crowd of 24,012 at the Astrodome watched in frenzied amazement as the Astros tied for the biggest comeback in National League history, erasing an 11-0 St. Louis lead and going on to win 15-12 for their third consecutive victory.
The Philadelphia Phillies overcame a 12-1 deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs, 18-16, on April 17, 1976 and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied from an 11-0 deficit to beat the New York Giants, 14-12 on June 15, 1952. The major league record for the biggest comeback is 12 runs, done twice in the AL. The Philadelphia Athletics rallied from 14-2 to beat Cleveland 17-15 on June 15, 1925 and Detroit came back from 13-1 to defeat the Chicago White Sox 16-15 on June 18, 1911.
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Kevin Bass, Andujar Cedeno, Mike Felder and Ken Caminiti drove in two runs apiece in the sixth inning as the Astros virtually rose from the dead and scored 11 times (one short of the club record) in the inning. Bass, who entered the game in the sixth as a pinch-hitter, drove in Felder with the go-ahead run with his second hit in the frame.
The stunned Cardinals couldn't stop Houston there. Jeff Bagwell, who earlier hit his 29th homer, walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by James Mouton. By the time Tony Eusebio, who had three hits and two RBI grounded out for the final out of the inning, the Cardinals sat disconsolately in the dugout while the crowd raised the roof with a fervor not seen at an Astros game this season.
It was, quite naturally, pennant fever manifested. Team of Destiny? Who could witness the parade of two-out singles and doubles and not think it possible?
This was not a comeback of grand slams, numerous errors or three-run homers. This was a collection of base hits, aggressive baserunning - easily third base coach Matt Galante's finest hour - that wore down five Cardinals pitchers with two runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth and then rocked the Dome with snake eyes in the sixth.
It started innocently. Trailing 11-4 with the top of the order up, Craig Biggio walked and pinch-hitter Bass doubled to the left field corner. Galante waved Biggio, and the second baseman scored all the way from first. St. Louis manager Joe Torre pulled starter Allen Watson in favor of Frank Cimorelli. The righthander got Bagwell to fly to short left for the first out.
And then the parade began in earnest.
Caminiti walked and Luis Gonzalez singled to make it 11-6. Mouton was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Eusebio walked, forcing in a run and Torre brought in lefty Bryan Eversgerd (2-1) to face Cedeno. Base hit: 11-8.
Felder, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the third and stayed in center field, lined a triple to right-center to tie the game.
Ironically, it was a night that seemed destined to turn off Houston's baseball fans at the worst possible time: the opener of an important seven-game homestand. Very quickly, it looked like the worst kind of night for the Astros as the Cardinals pounded out 13 hits and 11 runs before Brian Williams and Tom Edens had recorded seven outs.
It was a night that saw Astros starter Williams leave the field to a loud chorus of boos after getting knocked out in the second but those fans who chose to remain despite Houston's 11-0 deficit were on their feet screaming three innings later.
For a city that experienced the Buffalo catastrophe (NFL Houston Oilers playoff defeat), it was nice to be on the other side for a change.
With the Astros trailing the St. Louis Cardinals 11-0 in the middle of the third inning, Mike Felder was summoned to pinch hit for reliever Tom Edens, an act Felder thought would lead to a short night's work.
"I didn't anticipate getting five at-bats," Felder said Monday, after driving in three runs, including one that tied the game at 11-all as the Astros rallied for an improbable 15-12 victory at the Astrodome. "I pinch hit for the pitcher in that situation, and I thought I was going to have a short night. But it turned out to be a full night and a productive one. The best thing that came out of it was that it helped us win a game tonight."
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Although Felder harmlessly grounded out in his first at-bat, manager Terry Collins left him in the game to play center field in place of Steve Finley. Felder responded by banging out two hits in five plate appearances. He scored a run and drove in three. His triple in the sixth inning brought home two runs, including the one that tied the score.
Felder wasn't the only pinch hitter who wound up having a long and productive night. In the all-important sixth inning, veteran Kevin Bass was called upon to hit for eventual winning pitcher Mike Hampton. His pinch double down the left-field line scored Craig Biggio with the run that started the 11-run rally.
With Felder on third, thanks to his triple, Bass again came to the plate in the sixth inning and singled to right, bringing home Felder with the go-ahead run.
"I think that's the first time in my career that I've had two hits in one inning," said Bass. "That was a tremendous comeback. We had it done to us a few days ago in Pittsburgh (when the Pirates rallied from an 8-0 deficit to win). That just shows that anything can happen in this game."
While Bass said he couldn't remember ever experiencing a similar rally, big innings were all too familiar to Felder during the days he played for the Class AA El Paso Diablos in "The Dudley Dome."
"I can remember one game where the team scored 11 runs in the first inning on us and we came back and scored 13 in the second inning," said Felder. "We won the game 20-19. We had another game when we won 35-21 and I had five RBIs. Playing in that stadium, we had some big games."
Although Felder emerged from Monday's game as one of the heroes, when he bashed the game-tying triple, he almost wound up flat on his face.
"On the hit that tied the game, I was just trying to get to the next base," he said, "and I almost fell at first base."
There were many times during the night when it appeared the Astros might be the ones to fall flat on their faces. But operating against a pitching staff that statistically is the worst in the National League, they never gave up hope.
"We just kept chipping away," said Felder. "It seemed like every inning we were leaving runners on base. We left the bases loaded one inning; I left a couple of runners out there one inning. But we knew it was just a matter of getting the key hits because we were getting runners on base. Once we started getting close, 11-7, 11-8, you could just feel that the hits were going to come."
The Astros scored two runs in the fourth inning to start the comeback. Jeff Bagwell began the next inning with a home run that nudged them a bit closer.
"Yeah, this is the biggest comeback I've ever seen," the first baseman said. "It was tremendous. But the first game of the year, we came back in the ninth inning to win. This one tonight, we came back from 11-0, which is pretty incredible. But it's just one win. You can't get too crazy about it."
"We have to come right back out here tomorrow night."
Game data courtesy of Retrosheet
STL N 3 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 12 17 1 HOU N 0 0 0 2 2 11 0 0 x - 15 17 1
BATTING
St. Louis Cardinals AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Gilkey lf 4 3 2 2 0 1 3 0 O. Smith ss 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 Jefferies 1b 5 1 3 3 0 0 6 0 Lankford cf 5 2 2 3 0 2 2 0 Zeile 3b 5 0 2 1 0 1 1 4 Whiten rf 5 1 2 1 0 1 4 0 Pena 2b 5 1 1 0 0 2 2 1 Pagnozzi c 5 1 2 1 0 0 5 0 Watson p 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 Cimorelli p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Eversgerd p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dixon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alicea ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rodriguez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Perry ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 43 12 17 12 0 8 24 7
FIELDING - E: Lankford (5).
BATTING - 2B: Whiten 2 (17,off B. Williams,off Veres); Pagnozzi (12,off B. Williams); Zeile (19,off Edens); Pena (7,off Edens). 3B: Watson (1,off Edens). HR: Jefferies (10,2nd inning off B. Williams 1 on 2 out). SH: Watson (7,off B. Williams). HBP: Gilkey (10,by B. Williams). Team LOB: 6.
BASERUNNING - SB: Lankford (11,2nd base off Edens/Eusebio).
Houston Astros AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Biggio 2b 3 2 1 0 3 0 3 2 Finley cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Veres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Miller ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Hampton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Bass ph,rf 3 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 Bagwell 1b 5 2 2 1 1 0 7 1 Caminiti 3b 5 1 1 2 1 0 1 3 Gonzalez lf 4 2 2 1 1 1 2 0 Mouton rf 3 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 Jones p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Eusebio c 4 2 3 2 1 0 8 0 Cedeno ss 5 1 3 3 0 0 1 0 B. Williams p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Edens p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Felder ph,cf 5 1 2 3 0 0 2 0 Totals 40 15 17 15 7 3 27 10
FIELDING - DP: 1. Biggio-Cedeno. E: Biggio (7). PB: Eusebio (4).
BATTING - 2B: Bagwell (26,off Watson); Gonzalez (21,off Watson); Cedeno 2 (21,off Watson 2); Bass (12,off Watson). 3B: Felder (2,off Eversgerd). HR: Bagwell (29,5th inning off Watson 0 on 0 out). SF: Mouton (1,off Dixon). HBP: Mouton (5,by Cimorelli). Team LOB: 10.
BASERUNNING - SB: Biggio (29,3rd base off Dixon/Pagnozzi).
PITCHING
St. Louis Cardinals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP Watson 5 11 6 6 3 3 1 29 Cimorelli 0.1 1 4 4 2 0 0 5 Eversgerd L(2-1) 0 4 4 4 0 0 0 4 Dixon 0.2 1 1 1 2 0 0 5 Rodriguez 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Totals 8 17 15 15 7 3 1 49
Watson faced 2 batters in the 6th inning HBP: Cimorelli (2,Mouton).
Houston Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP B. Williams 1.2 6 6 4 0 1 1 12 Edens 1.1 7 5 5 0 2 0 11 Veres 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 Hampton W(2-1) 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 Jones SV(3) 3 3 1 1 0 3 0 12 Totals 9 17 12 10 0 8 1 45
WP: B. Williams (3). HBP: B. Williams (4,Gilkey).
Umpires: HP - Greg Bonin, 1B - Joe West, 2B - Wally Bell, 3B - Ed Rapuano
Time of Game: 3:20 Attendance: 24012
Starting Lineups: St. Louis Cardinals Houston Astros 1. Gilkey lf Biggio 2b 2. O. Smith ss Finley cf 3. Jefferies 1b Bagwell 1b 4. Lankford cf Caminiti 3b 5. Zeile 3b Gonzalez lf 6. Whiten rf Mouton rf 7. Pena 2b Eusebio c 8. Pagnozzi c Cedeno ss 9. Watson p B. Williams p CARDINALS 1ST: Gilkey was hit by a pitch; B. Williams threw a wild pitch [Gilkey to second]; O. Smith singled to shortstop [Gilkey stayed at second]; Eusebio allowed a passed ball [Gilkey to third, O. Smith to second]; Jefferies singled to left [Gilkey scored, O. Smith to third]; Lankford reached on an error by Biggio [O. Smith scored (unearned), Jefferies to second, Lankford to first]; Zeile flied into a double play (second to shortstop) [Jefferies out at second]; Whiten doubled to left [Lankford scored (unearned)]; Pena struck out; 3 R (1 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 3, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Biggio grounded out (shortstop to first); Finley flied to left; Bagwell doubled; Caminiti popped to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 3, Astros 0. CARDINALS 2ND: Pagnozzi doubled to left; Watson out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Pagnozzi to third]; Gilkey singled to center [Pagnozzi scored]; O. Smith flied to left; Jefferies homered [Gilkey scored]; EDENS REPLACED B. WILLIAMS (PITCHING); Lankford singled to right; Lankford stole second; Zeile doubled to right [Lankford scored]; Whiten struck out; 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 7, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Gonzalez was called out on strikes; Mouton popped to catcher; Eusebio singled to right; Cedeno grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 7, Astros 0. CARDINALS 3RD: Pena doubled to right; Pagnozzi flied to right [Pena to third]; Watson tripled to left [Pena scored]; Gilkey singled to left [Watson scored]; O. Smith singled to center [Gilkey to second]; Jefferies grounded out (first to pitcher) [Gilkey to third, O. Smith to second]; Lankford singled to center [Gilkey scored, O. Smith scored]; Zeile struck out; 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 0. ASTROS 3RD: FELDER BATTED FOR EDENS; Felder grounded out (third to first); Biggio walked; Finley struck out; Bagwell flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 0. CARDINALS 4TH: FELDER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); VERES REPLACED FINLEY (PITCHING); Whiten doubled to left; Pena lined to right; Pagnozzi lined to left; Watson grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 0. ASTROS 4TH: Caminiti popped to catcher; Gonzalez doubled to center; Mouton flied to right [Gonzalez to third]; Eusebio singled to left [Gonzalez scored]; Cedeno doubled to right [Eusebio to third]; Felder singled to shortstop [Eusebio scored, Cedeno to third]; Biggio walked [Felder to second]; MILLER BATTED FOR VERES; Miller struck out; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 2. CARDINALS 5TH: HAMPTON REPLACED MILLER (PITCHING); Gilkey struck out; O. Smith grounded out (pitcher to first); Jefferies grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 2. ASTROS 5TH: Bagwell homered; Caminiti flied to right; Gonzalez grounded out (second to first); Mouton singled to right; Eusebio singled to shortstop [Mouton to second]; Cedeno doubled to left [Mouton scored, Eusebio to third]; Felder grounded out (pitcher to first); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 4. CARDINALS 6TH: Lankford struck out; Zeile grounded out (third to first); Whiten flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 4. ASTROS 6TH: Biggio walked; BASS BATTED FOR HAMPTON; Bass doubled to left [Biggio scored]; CIMORELLI REPLACED WATSON (PITCHING); Bagwell popped to left; Caminiti walked; Gonzalez singled to left [Bass scored, Caminiti to second]; Mouton was hit by a pitch [Caminiti to third, Gonzalez to second]; Eusebio walked [Caminiti scored, Gonzalez to third, Mouton to second]; EVERSGERD REPLACED CIMORELLI (PITCHING); Cedeno singled to center [Gonzalez scored, Mouton scored, Eusebio to third (error by Lankford), Cedeno to second]; Felder tripled to center [Eusebio scored, Cedeno scored]; Biggio singled to third [Felder stayed at third]; Bass singled to right [Felder scored, Biggio to second]; DIXON REPLACED EVERSGERD (PITCHING); Biggio stole third; Bagwell walked [Bass to second]; Caminiti singled to left [Biggio scored, Bass scored, Bagwell to second]; Gonzalez walked [Bagwell to third, Caminiti to second]; Mouton out on a sacrifice fly to right [Bagwell scored, Caminiti to third]; Eusebio forced Gonzalez (third to second); 11 R, 7 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 15. CARDINALS 7TH: BASS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); JONES REPLACED MOUTON (PITCHING); Pena struck out; Pagnozzi grounded out (second to first); ALICEA BATTED FOR DIXON; Alicea popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 15. ASTROS 7TH: RODRIGUEZ REPLACED ALICEA (PITCHING); Cedeno flied to center; Felder popped to third; Biggio popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 15. CARDINALS 8TH: Gilkey flied to center; O. Smith grounded out (pitcher to first); Jefferies singled to center; Lankford struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 15. ASTROS 8TH: Bass grounded out (third to first); Bagwell lined to left; Caminiti popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 11, Astros 15. CARDINALS 9TH: Zeile singled to center; Whiten forced Zeile (third to second) [Whiten to first]; Pena popped to second; Whiten advanced to second because of defensive indifference [Whiten to second]; Pagnozzi singled to center [Whiten scored]; PERRY BATTED FOR RODRIGUEZ; Perry struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 12, Astros 15. Final Totals R H E LOB Cardinals 12 17 1 6 Astros 15 17 1 10