ST. LOUIS -- Mark McGwire needed one homer and got two to finish the night with 501 homers. Tony Gwynn needed two hits and got one, leaving him with 2,999 hits.

McGwire reached the 500 plateau with fewer at-bats than anyone in baseball history, then hit No. 501 off the left-field scoreboard Thursday night in a 10-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday night."He's incredible," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's like he's allergic to a base hit, too. I mean, the ball's leaving the park every time he hits it."

"I'm well aware of the names," McGwire said. "It's sort of odd to have your name with that group because I feel like I have a few years to play. I'm not done playing."

While McGwire became the 16th member of the 500-homer club, Gwynn fell just short of becoming the 22nd player to reach 3,000 hits. Gwynn got No. 2,999 -- a two-run double in the ninth inning -- and went 1-for-4 with a walk as a sellout crowd just missed a double dose of history.

"I gave it a good run," Gwynn said. "I'll move on to the next stop, and hopefully I can get it there tomorrow." The Padres begin a four-game series at Montreal tonight.

"The people of all America got to see what they wanted to see and plus one," said Padres right-hander Andy Ashby, who gave up both homers. "It would have been nice if Tony would have gotten his 3,000th, but we'll have to wait another day for that, or whenever it comes."

A crowd of 45,106, some of whom paid $150 to scalpers for a

$7 standing room ticket, came away happy. After just missing in his first at-bat with a drive to the center-field wall, McGwire hit a hanging breaking ball an estimated 451 feet to straightaway center in the third, then blasted a 479-foot shot off the scoreboard in left-center in the eighth. McGwire remains a bit off last year's pace, even after hitting 17 homers in 21 games, but he's catching up in a hurry. Now he's on pace for 65. McGwire, who hit his 499th homer Wednesday night, then took his second curtain call in as many nights as Ashby stood off the mound, looking out towards center field.

Gwynn took off his glove in right field and applauded as McGwire rounded the bases.

"I'm wondering, 'Should I clap like everybody else or be a professional?"' Gwynn said. "Really, this is his stage, his ballpark. Once again, he delivered."

McGwire's eighth-inning blast was the longest this season at Busch, banging off the scoreboard near his No. 25 in a lineup list before dropping into the seats right above the Padres bullpen.

McGwire leads the majors with 44 home runs, two more than Sammy Sosa, and tops the NL with 101 RBIs.

Experts believe the 500th homer ball could be worth $1 million, and fans scrambled to come up with the prize after it deflected off the base of an advertisement and landed in an area of shrubbery beyond the center-field wall. Jim Shearer, a 28-year-old architect from St. Louis, wound up with the souvenir and was whisked away by authorities. Shearer said he'd think about what he might do with the ball for a few days.

In other National League action:

BRAVES 6, PIRATES 3: The Atlanta Braves finally gained some ground on New York. All they needed was for the Mets to take a day off.

The Braves, who lost 11 of their previous 17, closed within 11/2 games of the idle Mets in the NL East with a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night. Atlanta fell out of a first-place tie by losing Tuesday and Wednesday. New York is 16-4 since the All-Star break. Pinch-hitter Keith Lockhart's three-run double broke an eighth-inning tie as the Braves rallied by scoring the final five runs.

ASTROS 7, DODGERS 0: Shane Reynolds pitched a five-hitter for his seventh career shutout as Houston beat visiting Los Angeles.

Rookie Russ Johnson had three hits, including a home run that broke a scoreless tie and started a six-run seventh inning. The Astros won for the 10th time in 13 games.

EXPOS 5, CUBS 2: Chris Widger homered and drove in four runs, leading Mike Thurman and Montreal over slumping Chicago.

The visiting Expos won for the fifth time in six games. Chicago has lost 10 of 13.

Sosa, who started the day tied with McGwire for the major league home run lead with 42, went 0-for-4 with a walk.

ROCKIES 2, REDS 1: Pedro Astacio dominated Cincinnati for the second time in three weeks, outpitching Juan Guzman in his NL debut while leading Colorado to a road win.

The Rockies have beaten the Reds only twice in nine games this season, both times with Astacio (12-9) on the mound. Astacio struck out nine and walked two in his fifth complete game, matching Roger Bailey's franchise record from 1997.

PHILLIES 9, MARLINS 3: Gary Bennett hit his first major league home run and drove in a career-high four runs as Philadelphia won at Florida.

The win gave the Phillies a sweep of the three-game series and improved their 1999 record against Florida to 11-2.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 8, RED SOX 0: Chuck Finley and Al Levine combined on a four-hitter and Jim Edmonds went 4-for-4 as Anaheim beat Boston.

Troy Glaus hit a three-run homer to help Finley (6-10) win for only the second time in 10 starts at home this season. The left-hander allowed four hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked four.

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Mo Vaughn missed his second game because of a staph infection.

YANKEES 7, MARINERS 4: Tino Martinez homered twice and Bernie Williams had four hits and three RBIs to lead New York to a win over Seattle.

Martinez, a former Mariners player, hit career homers No. 200 and 201 in New York's first appearance at Safeco Field. The Yankees pulled even with Texas and Cleveland for the top record in the AL at 65-42. Roger Clemens (10-4) allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings.

ATHLETICS 7, WHITE SOX 6, 11 INNINGS: Scott Spiezio hit a game-winning two-out single in the 11th inning to lift Oakland to a victory over the White Sox, snapping Chicago's three-game winning streak.

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