No Mark McGwire? No J.D. Drew? No problem. Just insert Thomas Howard and Eduardo Perez. While that may not work for a whole season, it worked Wednesday, as the Cardinals beat Arizona 8-4. Perez, filling in for McGwire at first, had two hits and an RBI, raising his average to .375. Howard, subbing for Drew in right field, had the biggest blow of the night, a three run homer in the 5th that gave the Cardinals an 8-1 lead. Howard had two hits and drove in four runs. Jim Edmonds had three hits and scored twice. Darryl Kile allowed just one earned run in 8 innings to improve to 12-6. The Cardinals extended their lead over Cincinnati to 7 and 1/2 games. Rick Ankiel will start tonight as the Cards go for the sweep of Arizona. Ankiel is 5-1 at Busch Stadium, with a 2.76 ERA. Rookie Geraldo Guzman will start for Arizona. This is the final game of the season between the Cardinals and Diamondbacks. The two teams are 4-4 so far.
