Cards win 7th straight

PITTSBURGH -- Woody Williams pitched three-hit ball over seven innings and Mark McGwire, who came into the game only because of an injury, homered in his 39th major league park as the St. Louis Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 9-1 Thursday night for their seventh straight victory.

The Cardinals won their 10th in 11 games to stay 4 1/2 games behind NL Central leader Houston, which beat San Francisco 5-4 in 10 innings. St. Louis held its 2 1/2 game lead over the Cubs in the wild card race, while the Giants fell three games back.

St. Louis might have an edge down the stretch -- six more games against the Pirates, who are eight losses away from their first 100-loss season since 1985. The Cardinals are 9-2 against the Pirates and have won their last nine in Pittsburgh dating to May 14, 2000.

Williams (13-9), pitching for the first time since his two-hit shutout of San Diego on Sept. 5, failed to pitch his third consecutive complete game but still was dominating. He limited the Pirates to Warren Morris' solo homer in the fourth and retired all but one of the final 12 batters he faced, striking out three and walking three.

Williams is 5-1 since joining the Cardinals in an Aug. 2 trade with San Diego, allowing two runs in 25 innings while winning his last three starts.

McGwire's 25th homer started a three-run St. Louis third inning against Jimmy Anderson (7-17), who lost his eighth in nine decisions by surrendering eight hits and walking five in 6 1-3 innings.

McGwire homered on an 0-2 pitch while batting first in the order, a peculiar spot for him created when Fernando Vina bruised his right hand while being struck by a pitch in the first inning and left the game.

McGwire, who was in a 2-for-15 slump, wasn't in manager Tony La Russa's initial lineup for the second day in a row, only to homer for the first time since Sept. 10. He went 0-for-5 during the Cardinals' just-completed four-game sweep of Milwaukee.

McGwire and Ellis Burks now share the major league record by homering in 39 parks.

Placido Polanco doubled and J.D. Drew put down a bunt single after McGwire's homer, and both scored on Jim Edmonds' single after Albert Pujols was intentionally walked.

The Cardinals, who have outscored the Pirates 32-6 in their four games in PNC Park, needed only one hit -- Polanco's single -- while scoring four runs in the seventh. Anderson walked four and reliever Josias Manzanillo hit Craig Paquette with the bases loaded, while Drew had a run-scoring grounder and Edgar Renteria hit a sacrifice fly.

Renteria added a two-run double in the ninth.