Minus Mac, Cardinals Roll White Sox

Don’t think for a minute the St. Louis Cardinals don’t miss Mark McGwire when he’s not in the lineup. They do.

They also know they can win without him, just as they did Thursday night in the opener of an interleague series with the Chicago White Sox matching the leaders in the American League and National League Central divisions.

Andy Benes pitched seven strong innings, Fernando Tatis homered twice and Shawon Dunston hit a grand slam as the Cardinals routed the White Sox, 13-5, at Chicago.

“Mark deserves a lot of the credit and he gets a lot of attention. He would be the first to tell you this team is 25 guys, everybody in this clubhouse has done something this year to help us win,” Benes said.

“When he’s not in there, we still have to go out and win without him.”

McGwire, tied for the major league home run lead at 30 with Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds, went on the 15-day disabled list before the game because of tendinitis in his right knee, just as the Cardinals were beginning a season-long 11-game trip.

San Francisco 4, Oakland 2--Barry Bonds, back after sitting out the All-Star game because of a slightly fractured right thumb, put the Giants ahead at San Francisco with his 29th home run.

Bonds, who sat out six of eight games before the All-Star break, homered in the fourth inning against Mark Mulder (5-5). It was Bonds’ first homer since June 29.

Texas 6, Arizona 4--David Segui tied the game with a two-run triple and Luis Alicia hit a two-run single as the Rangers rallied for five runs in the ninth inning at Phoenix.

Jay Bell, hitless in 20 at-bats coming in, drove in four runs with two homers and an RBI single as Arizona built a 4-1 lead, but Arizona’s bullpen blew a save chance for the third time in four games.

San Diego 2, Seattle 1--Phil Nevin scored from second on shortstop Carlos Guillen’s fielding error with two outs in the 10th inning at San Diego.

Atlanta 6, Baltimore 3--Greg Maddux outpitched Mike Mussina and Bobby Bonilla singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning at Baltimore.

Maddux (11-3) gave up three runs, eight hits and two walks in seven innings to earn his second consecutive victory after two consecutive defeats. It was his first appearance since July 4 because of a shoulder injury that forced the right-hander to sit out one start and skip the All-Star game.

Tampa Bay 6, Montreal 4--Gerald Williams hit a two-run homer during a three-run fifth inning for the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Vinny Castilla had an RBI single in a two-run seventh as the Devil Rays broke a 4-4 tie en route to only their fourth victory in 12 games.

Detroit 8, Houston 2--Dean Palmer hit three run-scoring singles at Detroit as the Tigers beat the Astros for the first time in seven meetings.

Philadelphia 8, Toronto 5--Curt Schilling earned his 100th victory with the Phillies, and rookie Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer at Toronto.

Schilling (5-5), beginning to recover his form after off-season shoulder surgery that delayed his season debut to April 30, has won four of his last six starts. He is 100-77 with the Phillies.

Minnesota 5, Chicago Cubs 1--Brad Radke won at Minneapolis for the first time in almost a month, and Jacque Jones hit a two-run homer.

Jones’ team-leading 14th homer in the second inning gave the Twins the lead for good, and Radke (6-10) gave up five hits and one run in six innings to earn his first home victory since June 16.

Cleveland 4, Pittsburgh 3--Manny Ramirez homered in his return from the disabled list and Kenny Lofton singled home the winning run in the 10th inning at Cleveland.

Ramirez, who didn’t start in the All-Star game because of a hamstring injury, went two for four in his first game since May 29, when he suffered the injury running to first base against the Angels.

He struck out in the first and homered in the fourth, a 419-foot drive to left-center against Todd Ritchie. Ramirez left for a pinch-runner in the eighth after a bloop single to left.

Florida 11, New York Yankees 9--Mike Lowell and Derek Lee hit three-run homers against Orlando Hernandez at New York as the Marlins opened the second half of the season by winning for the eighth time in 10 games.

Milwaukee 5, Kansas City 2--Jeromy Burnitz and Marquis Grissom hit first-inning home runs at Kansas City, Mo., and Jamey Wright won his fourth consecutive road decision.

Wright (5-2) gave up one run and eight hits in seven innings.