"It's a long time coming, I guess," Drew told The Associated Press. "It was a little bit of a rocky start, but I feel like I'm having some good at-bats and seeing the ball pretty well. I got ahold of a good one today."

Manager Tony La Russa said he's seen positive signs lately from Drew, who platooned in right field last year but has played pretty much every day this season.

"When I see a couple of line-drive singles to left, I'll feel even better," La Russa said. "But he's getting to be more of himself. He's getting dangerous again."

Pitcher Andy Benes had a three-run double and rookie Albert Pujols had three hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games for St. Louis, which avoided a three-game sweep.

Andy Benes walked the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters with two outs in the sixth, reliever Mike Mathews walked pinch hitter Darryl Ward to load the bases before Jose Vizcaino hit a two-run single to tie it at 5.

April 13, 2001

Rolling the Rockies

Now that's more like it.

After getting blasted out of Colorado in their season-opening series sweep at Coors Field, the Cardinals came back to win five of six heading into the weekend, including taking two of three from the Rockies.

Now St. Louis has a big chance to make some hay, as they welcome first-place Houston into Busch Stadium for a three-game weekend set.

If the Cards can start to get some contributions from their big guns, this team could really make a move up the standings. Mark McGwire's sore knee has limited his plate appearances, while Jim Edmonds has fought a sore toe and sore groin. Combined, they had hit just three home runs heading into the weekend, and McGwire was an abysmal 1 for 13.

Thank goodness for Albert Pujols and Ray Lankford. Pujols, a rookie, was hitting .344 heading into the weekend with three home runs and 11 RBI, while Ray Lankford was hitting .429 with four homers and eight RBI.

Probable pitching matchups for the weekend: Friday, Houston's Kent Bottenfield (0-1, 7.20) makes his return to St. Louis against Darryl Kile (1-1, 8.18); Saturday, Scott Elarton (1-1, 9.00) takes on Rick Ankiel (1-0, 3.60); and Sunday, Jose Lima (1-0, 3.00) battles Andy Benes (0-1, 13.50).

After their series with Houston, the Cardinals close up their homestand with a three-game rematch with Arizona on April 16-18. The Cards swept the D-Backs in Phoenix during the second series of the season.

MCGWIRE UPDATE: Expect St. Louis to rest first baseman Mark McGwire regularly until the soreness completely goes away in his right knee -- if it ever does. The Cards' current plan is to play McGwire about six innings a game four or five times a week.

McGwire ended an 0-for-12 slump with a solo home run on Wednesday night, but then sat out Thursday's day game.

Walker's amazing home run

The first juiced ball story of the year is in, and it comes from St. Louis. In the sixth inning of Monday's game at Busch Stadium, Cardinals pitcher Andy Benes sawed off Larry Walker's bat. The barrel landed out by second baseman Fernando Vina.

The ball? It landed 377 feet from the plate, over the right-field fence to tie the game at 2-2.

"I can't wait to see it on tape to see how that ball could carry so far,'' St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa said. "I know he doesn't cork his bat, but it's amazing.''

As for Walker, who uses a Louisville C-235 model bat that weighs 32 ounces and measures 34 inches, he was simply thrilled to tears that nobody could blame the altitude instead of crediting his strength.

"I'm glad it happened here and not Coors Field,'' Walker told reporters.

Noteworthy

Cardinals starter Rick Ankiel was not saying "I told you so.''

In fact, he wasn't saying much of anything to reporters.

But Ankiel, whose control meltdown in last year's playoff captured the national spotlight, showed the world he is ready to put that, plus a rocky spring, behind him after a terrific 2001 debut over Johnson.

The lefthanded Ankiel gave up two runs on three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts against the Diamondbacks. He retired 11 Arizona hitters in a row at one point. He threw 100 pitches and 63 were strikes.

Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan had plenty to say after the game. He chided the media for the way the national media made Ankiel look in the last six months.

"It's a real negative approach, and I think it's vicious,'' Duncan said. "The right way to do it is to be fair about it, and I think it's been totally unfair -- pointing out all the negatives without pointing out any of the positives.

"I'm happy that Rick pitched well," Duncan said. "If we get to the point where we get consistent performances like that, I'll be real happy. Are we there yet? No. He did look great. It's a huge step in the right direction. But we'll be back working tomorrow. You saw that one outing in spring training where he was lights out. Then, he came back and struggled. The potential for struggle is there.

"He's a young pitcher who's still learning how to pitch and sometimes his delivery gets away from him," Duncan said. "When it does, his control suffers.''

STAT CORNER: Starting pitchers Darryl Kile, Andy Benes and Matt Morris had a combined ERA of 10.86 in a three-game sweep at Colorado to open the season.

FAST FACT: Bobby Bonilla became the first Cardinal player ejected April 4 in Colorado when he yelled at umpired Greg Bonin about balls and strikes. The kicker? Bonilla wasn't even playing in the game. Another kicker? Bonilla was on the disabled list, too. So before his career with the Cardinals even began, he was tossed from a game.

QUOTEWORTHY: "It was stupid. Stupid things happen, and that's what happened. I learned my lesson.'' -- Center fielder Jim Edmonds after he admitted he sprained and bruised his big left toe "kicking something'' in the dugout after striking out in a game at Colorado.