July 12, 1996 - Cards Hit Franchise Record 7 HR's in 13-3 Clubbing of Cubbies

July 12, 1996 - At Wrigley Field (Andy Benes - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent:  Chicago Cubs (Steve Trachsel - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance:  38,918

The Cardinals tied a franchise record - first set on May 7, 1940 - with seven home runs - in a 13-3 beat-down of the Chicago Cubs at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

Eleven of the thirteen runs tallied by the Redbirds came via the home run.  Only the first two runs St Louis scored - in the second-inning - came without the benefit of a home run.

After that, it was Home Run Derby:

Inning - 3 - John Mabry connects off Cubs' starter Steve Trachsel for a two-run home run, then the next batter - Gary Gaetti - also homers - the first of two back-to-back home runs the Cardinals would generate in this game.

Inning - 5 - Ray Lankford & Ron Gant go back-to-back to start the inning, which finishes off Trachsel - Gaetti hits his second home run of the game - a two-run blast off reliever Rodney Meyers - to cap off a four-run inning.

Inning - 6 - Brian Jordan gets in on the fun with a three-run home run off another new reliever - Tanyon Sturtze.  Former Cardinal Kent Bottefield pitches a scoreless seventh-inning for Chicago and is given a standing ovation for becoming the first Cubs' hurler to avoid the long ball in this game.

Inning - 8 - Gant goes yard again - and in the process, ties a franchise record with the seventh Cardinal home run of the game.

Strangely enough, the Cardinals weren't much of a home run hitting team in '96 - aside from this game.  They hit 142 home runs for the season, which ranks them eleventh out of fourteen NL teams.

Ron Gant (2 HR) would lead the Cardinals with 30 HR - Gary Gaetti (2 HR) would finish second with 23 HR - Ray Lankford (21 HR), Brian Jordan (17 HR) and John Mabry (13) - rounded out the top five in Cardinal home runs in '96 - so it stood to reason these would be the guys going deep in this game.

The other 7-home run game - May 7, 1940 - At Sportsman Park - Opponent - Brooklyn Dodgers - Final Score - 18-2.  Home Runs Derby - Part I:

Eddie Lake (2) - Johnny Mize (2) - Stu Martin - Joe Medwick - Don Padgett

The Cardinals led the National League with 119 Home Runs in 1940 - But 7 in one game was ridiculous.

For Eddie Lake, those were the only home runs he'd hit all season (32 Games - 66 AB) - Stu Martin only hit four home runs in 114 Games (369 AB) - Don Padgett had just six home runs (93 Games - 240 AB) - Mize hit 43 HR - so that made sense - Medwick hit 3 HR (37 Games), then was traded to these same Brooklyn Dodgers, where he would hit another 14 HR (106 Games).