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When he walked into Busch Stadium on Tuesday after arriving at his old ballpark with a former Cardinals teammate, Diamondbacks starter Jordan Montgomery couldn’t help but feel like he was retracing his steps.

“It’s weird being on the other side for sure. I rode in with (Dylan) Carlson today. I almost walked in with him. I was like, ‘Ah, I can’t,’” Montgomery said, laughing.

Back in the ballpark where he made a National League Wild Card series relief appearance for ������Ƶ, Montgomery is scheduled to face his former team for the first time Wednesday in what will be his second start since signing with the Diamondbacks.

The lefty was acquired by the Cardinals at the 2022 trade deadline when ������Ƶ made a push for the NL Central Division crown. A year later, when the Cardinals became sellers last summer, he was dealt alongside reliever Chris Stratton to the Rangers for a haul that included reliever John King and prospects Thomas Saggese and Tekoah Roby.

“Just excited to get out there. I mean, playing baseball against old friends, but I’ll be competing and they will be competing and we can be friends again after,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery, who held a 3.42 ERA and had a 6-9 record in 21 starts at the time of his trade to Texas, went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts for a Rangers club that entered the 2023 postseason as a wild card and ended it as World Series champions.

The lefty contributed to Texas’ first championship season by posting a 2.90 ERA in 31 innings across six October outings — five of which were starts. His postseason run included a start against the National League champion Diamondbacks. He threw six innings and allowed four runs in a Game 2 loss to his future team.

“That’s what you work for,” Montgomery said of the World Series run. “I got over there (and there was) a bunch of great guys, and they were just running on all cylinders. It was fun. Glad I could kind of be that push to get them through it.”

After a successful postseason, Montgomery entered this past offseason as one of the top pitching targets on the free-agent market and a likely candidate for a long-term deal.

However, Montgomery’s one-year, $25 million deal with Arizona that includes a vesting option for 2025 was not reached until two days before the Diamondbacks’ season opener on March 26 and was not made official until March 29. Less than a month after his deal became official, Montgomery reportedly switched agencies and is now represented by Wasserman after previously being represented by Boras Corp.

When asked if the Cardinals had reached out to him this offseason about a potential return, Montgomery declined to comment.

“I’m not talking about the offseason. I’m not talking about that,” Montgomery said.

Because he did not have a traditional spring training build-up, Montgomery threw in a simulated game and made two Triple-A starts before making his Diamondbacks debut on April 19. In a start against the Giants, the lefty allowed one run across six innings in an outing he said he had to “gut it out” to earn his first win with his new team.

Against his old team on Wednesday, he expects much of the same from himself.

“You want to make a good impression,” Montgomery said of his debut outing. “... But they brought me here to win games, and that’s what I’m going to keep trying to do.”

Carlson moving forward

Carlson is “making progress” toward beginning a rehab assignment, but the date that could begin is still undecided, per Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. The switch-hitting outfielder took batting practice on Monday and was said to be feeling “good” as he continues to ramp up activities after suffering a left shoulder sprain in the team’s second-to-last spring training game. Carlson was set to be cleared to take on-field batting practice Tuesday, but rainy weather prevented him from doing so.

With the Cardinals set to begin a six-game road trip Friday to face the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers, it is undecided if Carlson will continue his rehab on the road with the Cardinals or if that work will continue in ������Ƶ. Remaining in ������Ƶ could give Carlson a more controlled environment for his rehab work, Marmol noted.

Extra bases

• Tuesday marked the first day of right-hander reliever Riley O’Brien’s throwing progression, Marmol said. O’Brien, who was cleared to begin work with plyo balls, has been on the injured list with a right forearm flexor strain since March 31.
• Right-hander Keynan Middleton (right forearm flexor strain) continued his throwing progression on Tuesday and has gradually increased the distance from which he is throwing.
• Left-hander Drew Rom is scheduled to be reevaluated in the coming days as his recovery from tendinitis in his left biceps has “stalled.”

Jeff Gordon

Tipsheet: Reeling Astros remind Cardinals that things could always be worse

• Jeff Gordon

Believe it or not, Busch Stadium III, now in its 19th season, is still the eighth youngest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Maybe that isn’t so difficult to believe. For a franchise as storied and proud as the Cardinals, two decades is just a routine one-two-three half-inning. And just beyond the outfield, Ballpark Village continues to grow.

Or maybe, between its retro-generic brick confines and the two World Series championships it’s already hosted, Busch III feels timeless.

If you’re a hungry restaurant critic who also loves baseball, a Cardinals game is a challenge.

In Baltimore, my hometown, the smoke from Boog’s BBQ wafts over Oriole Park at Camden Yards during Orioles games. Boog is the locally beloved former Orioles slugger Boog Powell.

When I went to a Royals game last year at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City — MLB’s sixth oldest ballpark, which the club is trying to replace — a local barbecue operation offered me a sample of ghost-chile sausage on my way inside.

Busch Stadium lacks that signature, unmistakably ������Ƶ food. The focus on local restaurants that ������Ƶ City SC has brought to Citypark since the soccer team and its stadium opened last year has underlined that lack.

There is hope, though. If you’re willing to explore the ballpark. And, yes, of course, willing to spend money. I understand ranting about the cost of taking your family to a game. For this project, alas, the prices are a given.

There is also now the ������Ƶ Slinger Dog, new for this season, a hot dog with hash browns, nacho meat and two sunny-side-up eggs.

During the Cardinals’ first homestand of this season, I went to three games in four days, eating my way from right field around home plate to left. I visited vendors in the 400 sections and the 100s. I omitted any foods that are not available to all ticketholders.

I also skipped the basics: plain hot dogs and burgers, nachos, peanuts and popcorn. I wanted the dishes that are, as baseball’s analytics nerds would say, above replacement level.

Here are the food items you must seek out at Busch Stadium in 2024 and those you should avoid.

Note: Parenthetical numbers indicate the stand’s section(s) in Busch Stadium. Prices do not include tax or optional gratuity.

What you must eat

Farmtruk

Farmtruk chef and owner Samantha Mitchell knows how to feed a stadium. Her food truck has already established a presence at Enterprise Center for the Blues and Citypark for City SC. And beginning this season, you can find Farmtruk in the right-field upper deck at Busch (429). Yes, you’ll need to make a pilgrimage there if you’re sitting elsewhere, but Farmtruk will repay the effort with the best food in the ballpark — by far.

Farmtruk’s signature dish is its Brisket Mac: exceptionally creamy mac and cheese that would be worth a trip by itself topped by tender, deeply beefy pulled brisket. (Brisket, never a sure thing, is especially fraught at a stadium, as we will see soon enough.) Mitchell finishes the dish with green onions and crumbled Red Hot Riplets, a fun nod to ������Ƶ. The portion is generous, easily enough for two to share.

New to me at Farmtruk’s Busch stand are the Pork Belly Jalapeño Popper Sliders. These aren’t literally a jalapeño popper sandwich (though that would be fun, too). Instead you get succulent confit pork belly garnished with tomato jam and a spicy cream-cheese spread that replicates a jalapeño-popper filling.

HOW MUCH: Both the Brisket Mac and the Pork Belly Jalapeño Popper Sliders are $17.99 each.

Big Chicken

I approached Big Chicken (135, 458) warily because of the celebrity non-chef angle. Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal is a founder. Also, the chicken sandwiches are arrayed in rows for you to peruse and pick from, tipping the stand from fast-food convenience to convenience-store “How long has this been out here?”

My worries were unfounded. Big Chicken serves very good fried chicken sandwiches. Graded on the ballpark curve, they are must-eat. The 314 sandwich uses a maple-bacon doughnut from ������Ƶ’ Vincent Van Doughnut as the bun. The doughnut bun is a tried-and-true gimmick — I ate one years ago at a Gateway Grizzlies game in Sauget — but it works, especially with the bacon to mellow the sweetness.

The chicken is juicy and moderately spicy — about as Nashville hot as you would want during a baseball game. (I briefly imagined the ������Ƶ chain Chuck’s Hot Chicken in Big Chicken’s place, then remembered how Chuck’s level 5 spice of 6 chicken knocked me on my rear last year.) The Uncle Jerome sandwich gives you the fried chicken, with pickles, on a standard bun.

HOW MUCH: The 314 sandwich is $15.99. The Uncle Jerome is $14.99.

Bacon-wrapped hot dog

I won’t argue with anyone who prefers a basic ballpark hot dog, even if they top it with ketchup. I’m a brat guy myself, but if anything will persuade me to switch, it will be the bacon-wrapped hot dog available at free-standing carts (147, 168). The bacon is the obvious upgrade here, but I appreciated the heat of pico de gallo and the crunch of fried onions just as much. You can also add baked beans as a topping. I, well into this project by this point, did not.

HOW MUCH: The bacon-wrapped hot dog is $10.49.

���dz��’s Killer Pastrami Sandwich

Like barbecue, pastrami raises the degree of difficulty for ballpark food. Unlike Busch’s barbecue, I can recommend ���dz��’s (147), the cart operated by the Creve Coeur deli. ���dz��’s pastrami is tender and zippy — though not so zippy you don’t miss its beefiness. With sauerkraut and onions, it does indeed make for a killer sandwich.

HOW MUCH: The ���dz��’s Killer Pastrami Sandwich is $14.79.

The bench and bullpen

These concession stands aren’t must-visit, compared with the options above, but they work as an alternative to or upgrade from standard fare. Mission Taco Joint (150) offers the appealing Tex-Mex via California fare of the local restaurant chain. Those dishes suffer a little from being finished and held before you purchase them. The chile-crusted fries in the West Coast Nacho Fries ($13.99) go soft in its combination of queso and crema, but the flavors still pop, and the Mango Shrimp Tacos ($9.99) deliver crisp fried shrimp and a truly hot habanero aioli.

I don’t know if I would seek out ��������’s (432) on my own dime, but its bacon double steakburger with cheese ($12.49) is a definite step up from a ballpark cheeseburger, and the cheese curds ($8.99) are a fun snack.

As I said, this project intentionally skipped the basics, but I did realize I’d never tried the Mega Slice Pepperoni Pizza (139, 162, 437) at Busch. It’s a big slice — you can share it, making the price ($9.99) one of the few deals here — with a thick crust, gooey cheese and plenty of deliciously oily pepperoni cups.

The slinger dog is gross. (It should be even grosser.)

Credit the ������Ƶ slinger dog with the most dramatic debut at Busch Stadium this season. At least until new Cardinals ace Sonny Gray returned from the injured list.

Can Gray balance two wobbly fried eggs on his shoulders, though?

The slinger dog does. Until it doesn’t. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The slinger dog is an all-beef hot dog nestled in its bun on a bed of hash browns, then slathered with nacho meat and topped with two sunny-side-up eggs.

The Cardinals unveiled the slinger dog at a media event ahead of the home opener. In a season the team is pitching as “For the Lou,” it pays tribute to ������Ƶ’ beloved hangover cure.

After the Cardinals’ shocking last-place finish in 2023, everyone is ready for a wiener.

And the slinger dog, Cardinals vice president of events, services and merchandise Vicki Bryant promised at the media event, “is a party in your mouth.”

The party begins at the Top Dog concession stand (132). A cook cracks eggs into ring molds on the griddle. They sizzle while she flips the hot dogs and brats and stirs the onions.

However overwhelming the slinger dog looks in photos or video, it is more overwhelming in person.

However gross the slinger dog looks in photos or video, it is grosser in person.

Frankly, it needs to be even grosser.

As designed, the slinger dog is essentially a chili dog with fried eggs. The hash browns don’t matter. They vanish into the bun. The nacho meat isn’t chili, but it’s in the ballpark.

The eggs are an adventure. Mine shimmied in place atop the slinger dog while I carried the tray a short distance to a counter to eat. I didn’t risk carrying it any farther.

One of the eggs started to slip when I tried to pick up the slinger dog. The white of this egg looked a little liquidy on top, anyway, so I ignored it.

The other egg was ideal, with a golden runny yolk and a crisp bottom. If you don’t like runny eggs, don’t order the slinger dog.

If you can manage a bite with hot dog, hash brown, nacho meat and egg, the dish still doesn’t capture the madness of a true slinger.

The slinger dog needs cheese. Shredded cheese? Sure. Nacho cheese, as can be found all over the ballpark? Even better.

Really, you can’t hold back in the stadium-food game circa 2024. In Pittsburgh, the Pirates are topping a hot dog with pierogi.

Just saying: Toasted ravioli would be a fitting For-the-Lou cherry on the slinger dog’s sundae.

HOW MUCH: The slinger dog costs $13.79. If nothing else, you do get a lot of food for that amount.

What else to avoid

The slinger dog’s aesthetic and structural shortcomings are obvious. Other, more subtle dangers lurk throughout the ballpark, though.

Barbecue

Broadway BBQ (109) is just a lazy fly ball from Salt + Smoke. The acclaimed barbecue restaurant was a welcome, locally owned addition to Ballpark Village when it opened three years ago in the One Cardinal Way tower. Looming over Broadway BBQ while you wait for the mesquite-smoked beef brisket, Salt + Smoke is also a taunt crueler than any a bleacher bum could hurl.

Broadway BBQ’s brisket was, by far, the worst thing I tried at Busch Stadium, verging on inedible. Sliced to order, this brisket showcased an appealingly black and gnarly bark, but the meat was so chewy it could have been advertised as jerky, though jerky typically brings more flavor than these dull slabs of rubber.

Undercooking of this notoriously fussy cut was the likely culprit here. It just so happens I know a place that could teach lessons on smoking excellent brisket at large volumes.

Smoked turkey, which I tried the day after the brisket, is the better option — tender enough and packing more than token flavor of woodsmoke — but is by no means a ballpark must.

HOW MUCH: The beef brisket basket, which includes bread, pickles and a bag of chips, is $13.49. The turkey basket is $12.49.

Stir-Fry

The regrettably named Asian Action (136) turns out perfectly adequate stir-fries packed into conveniently portable Chinese-restaurant takeout containers. My order of a chicken stir-fry, cooked (or at least finished) to order in a wok while I waited, led with a pleasant sweetness that yielded to a modest, but definite heat.

Asian Action’s set-up is the problem. It works only if you hit the stand upon arrival, as I did on the final of my three visits to the ballpark. This gets you a passable meal, which by itself is not enough to justify the price.

During the game, though, the cooked-to-order line backs up, and you risk missing a half-inning, a full inning or maybe even more. At my first two games, I either gave up and left the line or didn’t even bother.

HOW MUCH: A chicken stir-fry costs $17.49.

Inside the walls of their clubhouse, Cardinals sluggers and were believed in and supported. Yet their recent struggles made them focal points of seemingly an entire fan base’s frustrations.

That sentiment only grew as the Cardinals went on a losing slide that extended to four games, during which they scored just nine runs.

Even though Goldschmidt's and Gorman's respective turnarounds were expected and repeatedly forecasted by teammates and coaches, they’d each floundered so much at the plate that they were dropped to lower spots in the batting order.

Their struggles continued and the pressure from outside only intensified.

Then Goldschmidt and Gorman turned home plate into a launching pad with two game-changing home runs in the last third of the game as the Cardinals stopped their losing streak and won the first game of their series against the defending NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3, on Gorman’s ninth-inning walk-off two-run home run in front of an announced crowd of 33,036 at Busch Stadium on Monday night.

Gorman’s game-winning blast to right field traveled an estimated 425 feet, and it triggered an explosion of elation from the Cardinals dugout as the ball took flight with the urgency of a jet plane and quickly sailed completely over the bullpen as Gorman spiked his bat into the ground and started making his way around the bases.

“It’s special,” Gorman said of the reaction of his teammates. “It’s just exciting. It fires you up. It makes you want to round the bases quick and get to them and celebrate.”

Gorman, an Arizona native and former prep star who grew up not far from the Diamondbacks’ ballpark, entered the game as defensive replacement in the eighth inning when Brendan Donovan shifted from second base to left field.

Gorman stepped to the plate for his at-bat in the game in the ninth inning with the score tied and a runner on first after Goldschmidt beat out an infield single.

A left-handed hitting former first-round draft pick, Gorman led the Cardinals in home runs and slugging percentage last season, but he came into the day batting .169 and mired in an 0-for-19 slump.

The left-handed reliever the Diamondbacks called out the bullpen to face Gorman, , had held left-handed hitters to a paltry .167 batting average this season and hadn’t allowed an extra-base hit to a lefty.

Despite the factors that appeared to conspire against his success, Gorman took a straightforward and confident approach with into the batter’s box.

Asked what was going through his mind, Gorman said, “That I was going to damage. I was going to go up there and look for a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it and let my ability take over.”

Nelson’s first-pitch slider spun over the heart of the plate at 83.8 mph, and Gorman swiftly crushed it. One pitch. One swing. One win.

“No doubter,” Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar said. “It’s an unreal feeling. I’m sure he was probably sitting on that pitch, got it and then did it. It’s not surprising. He’s such a good hitter. That uplifts our clubhouse and our whole dugout, but we’re not surprised by that.”

The Cardinals (10-13) hadn’t scored in 14 consecutive innings when they got two runs in sixth inning on Nootbaar’s two-run single with the bases loaded. That served as the first crack before Goldschmidt and Gorman broke all the way through against the Diamondbacks bullpen.

“That’s probably the biggest win of the year,” Nootbaar said. “In that fashion, I think it’s even better. Dramatic fashion. Vibes are high. For Gorman to step up in that situation and pull through, yeah, like I said that’s probably the biggest win of the year.”

Diamondbacks starting pitcher faced the Cardinals and allowed six runs in six innings on April 12. He gave up two home runs in that outing.

Monday night, Pfaadt turned the tables on the Cardinals. He retired the first 12 Cardinals batters he faced. He registered just two strikeouts, but he pitched a perfect outing through four innings.

Nolan Arenado’s single to left field to start the fifth inning gave the Cardinals their first base runner of the game.

Then in the sixth with the Cardinals trailing 3-0, Masyn Winn drew the first of three consecutive walks against Pfaadt. Nootbaar’s single pulled them within a run of the Diamondbacks (11-13).

Goldschmidt, who came into the day batting .179, went 0 for 2 in his two at-bats against Pfaadt. Then Goldschmidt mashed a game-tying solo home run against reliever Scott McGough to start the seventh inning.

Goldschmidt hadn’t belted an extra-base hit since his opening-day home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His blast off McGough traveled an estimated 432 feet to right-center field.

Goldschmidt, who spent the first eight seasons of his major-league career starring for the Diamondbacks, now has 10 home runs against his former team.

Goldschmidt left three men on base in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Brewers. Friday night, he grounded out with a chance to drive in the winning run in the ninth inning of a 2-1 extra-inning loss.

“As individuals, we all go through struggles,” Goldschmidt said. “But when the team can find a way to win, you can deal with that. For myself personally to have come up in some big spots and not have gotten the job done, that hurts more for sure. Like I said yesterday, you can’t correct them.

“But to be able to hit that home run in the seventh and tie up the game and get on base in the ninth in a tie game, that’s really satisfying. I mean, that’s why we play. It’s a lot more fun to do it that way, but you’ve got to take the failures and you’ve got to take the downs to enjoy the ups.”

Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out seven and left the game with his club trailing 3-0 after he threw 94 pitches.

Lynn worked around traffic in multiple innings. He stranded eight men on base in his five innings.

The bullpen contingent of Ryan Fernandez (one inning), Andrew Kittredge (1 1/3 innings), JoJo Romero (2/3 innings) and Ryan Helsley (one inning) combined for four innings of scoreless relief. That group allowed two hits and one walk in the final four innings. Helsely (2-2) earned the win.

“We needed that one, and the way it worked out was perfect,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You struggle early. You hit some balls hard right at people. Their guy did a nice job navigating our lineup. But the guys talked a decent amount about it — the tougher it gets, the closer we get and we just keep competing.”

������Ƶ Cardinals

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������Ƶ Cardinals

Nolan Gorman’s walk-off homer lifts Cardinals to victory as they edge Diamondbacks 5-3

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Photos: Nolan Gorman walk-off homer gives Cardinals 5-3 win over Diamondbacks

Editor's note: On Friday, April 23, 1999, Cardinals 3rd baseman Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams in one inning, which never had been done before. Here is how Rick Hummel covered the event.

Before Friday night, major-league baseball players had swatted 4,777 grand slams with no player ever hitting two in the same inning.

"You've got a better chance of winning the lottery, " said Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, who was not the first player to reach this feat. McGwire once hit two homers in an inning - something which no Cardinal had ever done before Friday - but he did it with Oakland and only one homer was a grand slam. Fernando Tatis got his 15 minutes of fame and then some Friday night when he clubbed two grand slams off Los Angeles starter Chan Ho Park.

From a moderately known player heretofore, Tatis became a celebrity across late-night America and reached near deity status in his native Dominican Republic. All night and into the day, Tatis fielded calls from family, friends and media in the Dominican Republic. "Almost everybody back home, " he said. "They were watching the game and they were having a party."

Tatis will have eternal fame, and he said, "I think that's what every baseball player is looking for - to be famous, to be in the Hall of Fame. You just want your name to get bigger and bigger every year. I think my name is going to be, like you say, (famous)."

The Hall of Fame no doubt will call for some memorabilia although he said, "I've got to think about it. I'm not going to say yes" immediately.

Michael Lerner of Simi Valley obtained the second homer in the left-center-field pavilion. "After a kid grabbed it, I offered the kid $20, $40, $60, $80, " Lerner said. "The kid took the $80. I grabbed it. This ball belongs in the Hall of Fame and I hope you give it to the Hall of Fame, " Lerner told Tatis.

Rene Lachemann, the Cardinals third-base coach had something to do with this. He held Darren Bragg at third on McGwire's checked-swing single before the first slam and stopped slow-footed pitcher Jose Jimenez twice - once on Edgar Renteria's single which loaded the bases and the other time on McGwire's fly to medium right - before the second slam.

"I can't believe he didn't score on Renteria's ball, " manager Tony La Russa said. "Bad spring training preparation."

There were varying degrees of excitement for Tatis, 24.

"On the first one, he gave me kind of a dead fish handshake, " Lachemann said. "On the second one, he tried to knock my arm off."

La Russa said, "I never imagined what I would see (Friday). The game's been played 100 years. And this is the first time. That was an electrifying moment in that dugout."

Tatis wouldn't have even hit fourth if Eric Davis, who had a sore left hand, could have played. "Everything had to fall into place, " said Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, a 50-year veteran.

"(Tatis) had a great batting practice, " La Russa said. "Usually what that means is what it means - nothing. But he did have an outstanding BP."

La Russa said that if Tatis "doesn't come off the ball and if he disciplines himself - it's a big part of what Mark says. He tries to get a good pitch and drive it. If he does that . . . that's how you hit home runs."

Tatis pointed out, in fact, that La Russa had talked to him before the game about not swinging wildly, as he had been doing. "Tony told me, `Just be patient, ' " Tatis said.

What could compare?

La Russa brought up the famous 1917 game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds in which both the Cubs' Jim "Hippo" Vaughn and Cincinnati's Fred Toney had no-hitters through nine innings. Vaughn then allowed two hits in the 10th while Toney finished with a no-hitter.

Another game could be Los Angeles lefthander Sandy Koufax's perfect game against the Chicago Cubs in 1965 in which Chicago lefthander Bob Hendley allowed one hit.

Some perspective: Only four teams in this century - and one National League team - have hit two grand slams in an inning. The 1969 Houston Astros were the only National League team to do it, with Jimmy Wynn and Denis Menke the collaborators. The others were the 1986 Baltimore Orioles with Jim Dwyer and Larry Sheets, the 1980 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1962 Minnesota Twins.

Only once before had the Cardinals hit two grand slams in one game - Jim Bottomley and Chick Hafey did it in 1929. No Cardinal had ever hit two homers in one inning although one ������Ƶ Browns player, Kenny Williams, had two in an inning in 1922.

Tatis, with eight runs batted in, also shattered the modern-day RBI mark for an inning by 33 percent - or two runs batted in. The mark of six was set by Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in 1911, although RBIs did not become official until 1920. In 1937, Bob Johnson of the Philadelphia Athletics drove in six runs, a feat not done officially in the National League until 1970 when San Francisco's Jim Ray Hart drove in six.

There is a ������Ƶ connection here. Ed Cartwright of the 1890 ������Ƶ American Association team drove in seven runs in an inning.

A day later, Tatis could call his feat "unbelievable, " but still said, "Now I believe it." Thus is the magnitude of an accomplishment never achieved before.

Tatis said he watched the videos "only a few times." What he saw was a slam off a Park fastball on the first homer and off a Park slider on the second. "On two different pitches, " marveled McGwire, shaking his head.

The first one, which went about 450 feet, Tatis was sure about. On the second one, "I didn't think I had enough explosion. I was not sure it was going to go. It just happened. I thought, `I'm going to fly.'

"My mind is in other worlds right now."

Coverage from the Post-Dispatch: A grand night for Tatis

Post-Dispatch coverage

Post-Dispatch coverage

Box score

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