Whiten (as in Hittin’): Four Homers, 12 RBIs : Baseball: St. Louis outfielder, never known for being a slugger, has one of the biggest games in history.

CINCINNATI —  Mark Whiten was as amazed as everyone else as he hammered his way through one of the greatest offensive games in baseball history.

Whiten became the 12th player to hit four homers in a game and matched the record for runs batted in with 12 as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 15-2, in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday night.

Whiten made a major goof that cost the Cardinals the first game. He misplayed Reggie Sanders’ liner to right into a two-run, ninth-inning triple that gave the Reds a 14-13 victory.

Nothing in the first game gave a clue that great things were in store for Whiten--he went 0 for 4 with a walk that drove in a run. But his first at-bat in the second game let everyone know something special was happening.

He hit a grand slam off Larry Luebbers (2-4), the second of his career. After fouling out in the fourth, he homered in his last three at-bats to tie three major league records--four homers in a game, 12 RBIs in a game, 13 RBIs in a doubleheader.

Nothing in Whiten’s career suggested he was capable of anything like this. He had never had a multi-homer game for the Cardinals, never hit more than 15 homers at any level of pro ball.

“I don’t even have words to explain it,” he said. “Just amazement, I guess. Every time I hit it, I was amazed.”

So was everyone else in the ballpark. The few remaining fans out of a crowd of 22,606 gave him an ovation as he came to the plate in the ninth inning against Rob Dibble.

The Reds’ hard-throwing reliever went to 2-0, then threw a fastball right down the middle. Homer No. 4 went the farthest of all.

“I’ve been around 16 years,” St. Louis shortstop Ozzie Smith said. “I’ve seen some guys do some unbelievable things, but nothing like tonight. Of all the ones he hit, that last one was probably better than any of them.”

It was the most impressive in several ways. The other three came off rookies--in addition to the grand slam off Luebbers, he hit three-run homers in the sixth and seventh off Mike Anderson, who was making his major league debut.

In the ninth, he was facing a struggling pitcher who desperately wanted an out and knew the kind of hitter he was facing. Power vs. power.

“I knew it was history,” Dibble said. “I wasn’t going to walk him. At 2-0 I said, ‘Hey, here it is.’ I threw him the best stuff I’ve got, and he hit it out.”

The last major leaguer to hit four homers in a game was Atlanta’s Bob Horner in 1986 and the list includes Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig and Mike Schmidt. Whiten also tied Jim Bottomley’s 69-year-old major league record of 12 RBIs in a game. Bottomley also played for the Cardinals. Whiten tied Nate Colbert’s major league record of 13 RBIs in a doubleheader, set in 1972.

The Cardinals got Whiten, 25, from the Cleveland Indians on March 31 for pitcher Mark Clark and shortstop Juan Andujar. Whiten had hit 20 homers in three seasons with Toronto and Cleveland.

The record game Tuesday let him surpass his career total--he now has 22 homers this season and 87 RBIs.

“I was impressed with him before tonight,” Cardinal Manager Joe Torre said. “Tonight was an accomplishment that we probably won’t see again.”

The Cardinals knew it called for something special. They spread their red travel bags on the clubhouse floor, an impromptu red carpet, and crossed their bats overhead as Whiten strode in after the game.

“Awesome. An awesome display of talent,” Smith said.

His offensive records completed a record doubleheader at Riverfront Stadium. The teams used a major league-record 15 pitchers in the first game, which turned on Whiten’s mistake.

Powerful Performance

Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals tied major league records for home runs and RBIs with his performance in the second game of a doubleheader against the Reds Tuesday night at Cincinnati:

FOUR HOME RUNS IN A GAME

Players who have hit four home runs in a regular-season game with teams and dates:

Robert Lowe Boston May 30, 1894 Ed Delahanty Philadelphia (NL) July 13, 1896 Lou Gehrig New York June 3, 1932 Patrick Serrey Chicago July 18, 1948 Chuck Klein Philadelphia (AL) July 10, 1936 Gil Hodges Brooklyn Aug. 31, 1950 Joe Adcock Milwaukee July 31, 1954 Rocky Colavito Cleveland June 10, 1959 Willie Mays San Francisco April 30, 1961 Mike Schmidt Philadelphia (NL) April 17, 1976 Bob Horner Atlanta July 6, 1986 Mark Whiten St. Louis Sept. 7, 1993

Note: Lowe, Gehrig, Colavito and Schmidt hit four consecutive home runs; Serrey, Klein and Schmidt accomplished four home-run feat in extra-inning games.

MOST RBIS IN ONE GAME

Players who have driven in 10 or more runs in one game, with number of RBIs, team and date:

12 Mark Whiten St. Louis Sept. 7, 1993 12 Jim Bottomley St. Louis (NL) Sept. 16, 1924 11 Tony Lazzeri New York (AL) May 24, 1936 11 Phil Weintraub New York (NL) April 30, 1944 10 Rudy York Boston (AL) July 27, 1946 10 Walker Cooper Cincinnati July 6, 1949 10 Norm Zauchin Boston (AL) May 27, 1955 10 Reggie Jackson Oakland July 14, 1969 10 Fred Lynn Boston (AL) June 18, 1975