Quote: "What happened last year is not going to happen again in my lifetime. I don't know why everyone expects it to." -- Mark McGwire, who hit 70 homers last year but has gone 15 days without a homer, four days longer than his longest drought last year

It's a fact: The Astros went 13-9 in April, their eighth consecutive winning month. They haven't had a losing month since August 1997.

Who's hot: The Astros have homered in 16 of their past 22 games and have not gone back-to-back games without a homer since April 7-8.

Who's not: The Marlins' Derrek Lee leads the majors with 33 strikeouts.

On deck: Giants third baseman Bill Mueller, out since fracturing a toe on Opening Day, may begin a rehabilitation assignment this week.

Pub Date: 5/04/99