Baseball Today

St. Louis at San Francisco (10:15 p.m. EDT). Mark McGwire and the Cardinals make their first visit to Pac Bell Park to take on Barry Bonds and the Giants. STARS Sunday â€”

Monday, May 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

St. Louis at San Francisco (10:15 p.m. EDT). Mark McGwire and the Cardinals make their first visit to Pac Bell Park to take on Barry Bonds and the Giants.

STARS

Sunday

â€” Ryan Dempster, Marlins, pitched a one-hitter, striking out eight, for his first career shutout as Florida beat the New York Mets 3-0.

â€” Mike Lieberthal, Phillies, hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5 in Philadelphia's 7-4 win over Atlanta.

â€” Joe Mays, Twins, pitched a five-hitter as Minnesota beat Detroit 4-0.

â€” Mitch Meluskey, Astros, had a career-high five hits with two RBIs in Houston's 14-8, 10-inning win over Los Angeles.

â€” David Justice, Indians, went 3-for-5 with five RBIs, including a three-run homer, in an 8-6, 12-inning victory over Toronto.

SLUGGERS MEET

Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. hit two homers in the weekend series against the Cardinals, while St. Louis' Mark McGwire hit one. The series was the first time that McGwire and Griffey faced each other in a regular-season game since 1997 in the American League. They've gone head-to-head 55 times, with McGwire hitting 16 homers and Griffey 13.

SKIPPER'S MILESTONE

Tom Kelly became the 46th manager to win 1,000 games as Minnesota beat Detroit 4-0 Sunday. Kelly has managed the Twins since Sept. 12, 1986 â€” the longest current tenure in the four major professional sports â€” and has won two World Series titles in Minnesota.

SPECIAL HOMER

Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr. hit his 408th career homer in a 7-6 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday, passing Duke Snider for 29th on the career list.

STILL STRUGGLING

Despite a 9-4 win over Montreal on Sunday, the Brewers, at 11-20, are off to their worst start since 1970, their first year in Milwaukee.

SCORING IN BUNCHES

Oakland and Texas combined for 67 runs and 88 hits in their three-game weekend series.

SEEKING CONTROL

St. Louis' Rick Ankiel threw four wild pitches and walked four in five innings as the Cardinals lost to Cincinnati 9-7 Sunday.

SHAKY RELIEF

Toronto's Billy Koch surrendered two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and blew his second save of the season in an 8-6, 12-inning loss to Cleveland on Sunday. ... Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees blew his second save of the year, giving up three runs in the ninth inning in a 7-6 loss to Baltimore.

SWEEPS

Arizona completed a three-game sweep of San Diego on Sunday with an 8-1 win. ... Kansas City swept its home series against the White Sox with a 12-8 victory. ... Pittsburgh took its weekend series against the Chicago Cubs with an 11-3 rout.

START-UP STREAK

Johnny Damon's single in Kansas City's 12-8 win over the White Sox on Sunday marked the 10th straight game in which he has led off with a hit. It's the longest such streak since 1975.

STROLLING

Three Anaheim pitchers walked 12 batters in Sunday's 8-2 loss to Seattle, tying a team record. It was the fourth time Anaheim has walked that many, the last time coming June 27, 1996 against Oakland.

SLIPPING

Darin Erstad went 0-for-5 in Anaheim's 8-2 loss to Seattle on Sunday, dropping his average to .383 and moving him out of first place for the AL batting lead.

STRONG START

Seattle's John Halama pitched six strong innings, allowing one run and two hits with eight strikeouts in an 8-2 victory over Anaheim on Sunday.

SWEET RETURN

Chicago White Sox outfielder Magglio Ordonez homered, doubled and singled in his first game back from a five-game suspension Sunday, as Kansas City beat Chicago 12-8.

SOUTHPAW PROBLEMS

Tampa Bay is winless in five games against left-handed starters this season, including a 9-7 loss to Boston on Sunday. The Devil Rays are 8-28 over the past two years against lefties.

SLUMPING

The New York Mets dropped to 3-7 during their current road trip after losing 3-0 to Florida on Sunday. ... Houston's Jose Lima allowed seven runs and six hits in four innings of a 14-8, 10-inning win over Los Angeles.

STREAKING

Cincinnati's Dmitri Young singled to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games in a 9-7 win over St. Louis on Sunday. ... Juan Encarnacion extended his 18-game hitting streak with a ninth-inning triple in Detroit's 4-0 loss to Minnesota.

SUCCESSIVE SHOTS

Houston's Ken Caminiti and Richard Hidalgo hit back-to-back homers in Sunday's 14-8, 10-inning victory over Los Angeles.

SAVED BY THE RAIN

Sunday's Colorado-San Francisco game was postponed due to rain, providing some measure of relief to the struggling Rockies, who left town without scoring a run in the series.

SNAPPED

Atlanta lost its weekend series against Philadelphia after the Phillies pulled out a 7-4 win Sunday. The Braves have lost only two of their last 21 series at home, having won their first five this season.

STATS

Three of the Reds' last four wins have featured go-ahead home runs by Ken Griffey Jr. ... Houston's Craig Biggio has been hit by pitches 158 times, more than any active player.

SPEAKING

``When it comes to the point that I play two or three games in a row and then need a day off for a rest, it's time I hang up my shoes.'' â€” New York Mets outfielder Rickey Henderson, upset about not playing in Sunday's 3-0 loss to Florida.

SEASONS

May 8

1906 â€” Philadelphia manager Connie Mack needed a substitute outfielder in the sixth inning of a game against Boston and called on pitcher Chief Bender to fill in. Bender hit two home runs, both inside the park.

1907 â€” Boston's Big Jeff Pfeffer threw a no-hitter to give the Braves a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Boston.

1935 â€” In the first game of a doubleheader, Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds hit four doubles in consecutive innings (sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth) off four different Phillies pitchers. Lombardi also singled in the game as the Reds beat Philadelphia 15-4.

1966 â€” Frank Robinson became the only player ever to hit a home run out of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Robinson hit a 541-foot shot on a fly over the left-field wall off Cleveland right-hander Luis Tiant. The Orioles won 8-3.

1966 â€” The St. Louis Cardinals closed old Busch Stadium with a 10-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

1968 â€” Jim ``Catfish'' Hunter of the Oakland A's pitched a perfect game to beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0.

1984 â€” Minnesota's Kirby Puckett had four singles in his first major league game as the Twins beat the California Angels 5-0.

1994 â€” The Colorado Silver Bullets, the first women's team to play a pro men's team, lost 19-0 to the Northern League All-Stars. Leon Durham hit two homers and Oil Can Boyd started for the All-Stars. The Silver Bullets had two hits, struck out 16 times and made six errors.

1998 â€” Mark McGwire became the fastest player to hit 400 home runs when he connected in the third inning of the St. Louis Cardinals' game against the New York Mets. McGwire, the 26th player to reach the milestone, hit his 400 homers in 4,726 at-bats. The previous best was 4,854 by Babe Ruth.

Today's birthdays: Todd Greene 29; Dave Mlicki 32.