Edmonds wears out Cards

Who says there's not something for everyone at a Cubs-Cardinals game?

Take those St. Louis fans walking around in their red Edmonds 15 jerseys.

So their Cardinals lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to their rival Cubs, falling 7 games back in the National League Central race.

They got to see their favorite player smack 2 home runs.

The same player the Cardinals let go last off-season. The same player the Cubs picked off the scrap pile in May after a San Diego team that ranks last in the National League in hitting didn't want him.

That same Jim Edmonds that has found the fountain of youth in Chicago. His 28th career multi-home run game came against a Cardinal team he played for the last eight seasons.

"It's a little odd to play against a group of individuals that have been with for so long," Edmonds said. "It's like playing in the back yard with your family. You've got to separate and move on."

Both of Edmonds home runs came into the wind on 2-strike pitches. He pulled a 3-2 fastball in the second and went the opposite way on a 1-2 splitter in the seventh, tying the game at 2-2.

And both home runs yielded a noteworthy reaction.

After his first blast Edmonds watched it fly out and flipped his bat aside. Edmonds said he wasn't trying to show anyone up.

"(The bat) stuck in my hand. I had too much pine tar," Edmonds said.

"I didn't notice anything and nobody said anything to me about it," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "If you look around, everybody gets excited when they do great, that's just the way the game is today."

After his second home run, Edmonds popped out of the dugout for his first curtain call with the Cubs.

"Any time you get one is special, especially your first one in a different city," said Edmonds, who hit 17 home runs in Wrigley Field as a member of the Cardinals. "I'm just having fun and enjoying the game again and appreciate everything I have in front of me right now."

Cubs fans weren't appreciating Edmonds' arrival when he started 3 for 24. He heard boos, but there haven't been many since. He led Cubs regulars with a .319 average in June.

"Now looking back on it that (boos) is probably the way it should be," Edmonds said. "They are so passionate here about the game and they are passionate in St. Louis. I have got an opportunity to play in two of the best baseball cities in the National League and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It has been quite a ride."

Edmonds, after hitting .178 in 90 at-bats to start the year in San Diego, now has 14 home runs and a .284 average in 56 games with the Cubs. He's been especially hot lately, hitting .340 with 6 home runs in his last 16 games.

"That's pretty impressive, it really is," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He's hit the ball for power for us and made some nice plays out in center field and fit in very well with the chemistry of this team. It's been a win-win for us."

And a win-win for those Edmonds 15 jersey-wearers? Maybe for the rest of the series they should switch to Pujols 5.