"I've lost a couple of homers in that area that I thought maybe could go," Glaus said. "Whether it goes 20 rows deep or 2 feet over the fence, as long as they don't catch it, it's all good."
It sure is, especially when they win games. Glaus' second homer Wednesday night with two outs in the ninth was the decisive blow, an inning after pinch-hitter Chris Duncan's two-run shot tied it in the Cardinals' 8-7 victory over the New York Mets.
Glaus' fifth career game-winner came off rookie Carlos Muniz (0-1), a towering drive at which left fielder Endy Chavez made a leaping attempt.
"I jumped and it hit the advertising sign behind the wall," Chavez said. "I did everything right, I just didn't get to it. I thought for a second I might have had it."
Ryan Franklin (3-2) worked a perfect ninth for the Cardinals, who have won two of the first three games in the four-game set.
Phillies 7, Braves 3
At Atlanta, Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer and Pat Burrell added a solo shot as Philadelphia survived a ninth-inning scare to improve to 5-0 in Atlanta this season and 7-1 overall in the season series.
The Braves (40-45) fell a season-worst five games under .500 with their second straight loss in the series, despite homers from Chipper Jones and Ruben Gotay.
Adam Eaton (3-6) earned his first win in five starts.
Marlins 4, Nationals 2
At Miami, Florida's Alfredo Amezaga hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning when play resumed after a 1 1/2-hour rain delay.
Charlie Manning (0-2) relieved starter Odalis Perez after the stoppage, and Amezaga hit his second homer of the season and 11th in 1,106 career at-bats.
Pirates 9, Reds 5
At Cincinnati, Xavier Nady homered twice and drove in four runs to lead Pittsburgh, which learned closer Matt Capps will be gone for about eight weeks with bursitis and tightness in his pitching shoulder.
Dodgers 4, Astros 1
At Houston, Hiroki Kuroda (4-6) threw seven shutout innings after coming off the disabled list, and Jeff Kent had two RBI doubles for Los Angeles.
Rockies 8, Padres 1
At Denver, Garrett Atkins, Troy Tulowitzki and Yorvit Torrealba homered for Colorado, which scored seven runs in the first three innings against Randy Wolf (5-8).
Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 3
At Phoenix, Mike Cameron singled home Russell Branyan with one out in the top of the ninth for Milwaukee.
The Diamondbacks, who left 12 men on base and had two runners thrown out at home, lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
David Riske (1-1) earned the win despite surrendering a tying homer to Justin Upton in the eighth.
Cubs 6, Giants 5
At San Francisco, Mike Fontenot hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning for visiting Chicago.