Cubs lose despite Sosa's 59th HR
Posted: Saturday September 12, 1998 01:20 AM
| |
Brewing up homers: Sosa has belted seven homers off the Brewers this season AP |
CHICAGO (AP) -- In Spanish, the word "suave" means smooth. In
Sosa-speak, it means "look out, Sammy's going deep". "You can see
the difference when I'm thinking about right field. I'm a much better
player," Sosa said. "I feel relaxed, easy. And suave." Mr. Smooth
got home run No. 59 on Friday, a solo shot over the right-field fence in
the fifth inning of the Cubs' 13-11 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. It
was his first homer in six games, and moved him within three of Mark McGwire.
Sosa is tied with Babe Ruth for the fourth-most homers in a single
season. Ruth hit 59 in 1921, and 60 in 1927. McGwire broke Roger Maris'
single-season record of 61 Tuesday night. Sosa's homer wasn't
enough, though, on a day when a 12 mph wind was blowing everything long.
Chicago, which began the day tied with the New York Mets in the NL
wild-card race, saw starter Don Wengert
(1-4) hammered for five runs in 2 1/3 innings. In the sixth, Terry Adams
threw run-scoring wild pitches on consecutive at-bats. Eric Plunk (1-2)
gave up one hit in 2 1/3 innings, and struck out three, and Bob Wickman got
four outs for his 23rd save. "That's not the craziest one I've ever
seen here before, believe it or not," Milwaukee manager Phil Garner said.
"With the wind blowing out, you never know what you're getting into."
Sosa hadn't homered since last Saturday, a five-game stretch that was his
longest since August 11-15. While he said he wasn't getting very good
pitches, he admitted that he'd been pressing, trying too hard to make
something happen. So before the game, Cubs hitting coach Jeff
Pentland sat Sosa down for an intense, five-minute pep talk. Sosa listened
closely, nodding his head several times. He seemed more relaxed in
his first two at-bats, hitting a sharp RBI single to left in the first
inning and flying out to the right-field warning track in the third. Two
innings later, Sosa put Bill
Pulsipher's 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall, sending the fans in
the right-field bleachers into a frenzy. "That was one of the
easiest swings I've swung in the last couple of days," he said. It
was just the 10th home run off of a left-handed pitcher for Sosa, and his
18th to right field. Though Sosa struck out swinging in the sixth and
grounded to shortstop in the eighth, Cubs manager Jim Riggleman said Sosa
is showing signs he's about to go on another of his hot streaks.
"It's been amazing to watch him," Riggleman said. "Hitting the ball to
right field like that, generally it's a sign that good things are coming."
And Sosa's homer did mean good things for the Cubs, at least for the
rest of the fifth inning. Gary Gaetti hit
a two-run homer and Jeff Blauser
hit an RBI triple as the Cubs closed to 10-9. But then Adams threw
three wild pitches in a row in the sixth, leading to two runs. Fernando
Vina's RBI double made it 13-9. "Sometimes that happens," Adams
said. "It's part of the game. It was also part of having a bad day. I just
couldn't throw the ball over the middle of the plate." Kerry Wood
was supposed to start, but he was scratched because of a sprained ligament
in his right elbow and will be out at least a week. Wengert hit Vina
with a pitch in the third inning, then gave up RBI doubles to Mark Loretta
and Jeff
Cirillo, and a three-run homer to Jeromy
Burnitz. Reliever Rodney Myers then walked Marquis
Grissom and gave up an RBI double to Geoff Jenkins. Dave Nilsson,
Grissom and Jose Valentin
all hit RBI doubles in the fourth inning. Jason Maxwell made it 9-5
in the fourth with a two-run homer, his first major league hit. Mark Grace had an
RBI single in the eighth, and Tyler Houston
hit one in the ninth. Notes: Sosa has seven homers off of the
Brewers this season, more than any team but Philadelphia. ... Milwaukee's
13 runs tied the club's high for the season. ... The 3-hour, 41-minute game
was the longest nine-inning game of the season for the Cubs. ... Sosa was
honored before the game by Latino Baseball Magazine as the
Outstanding Latino Player of 1998. Bienvenido Perez, consul general of the
Dominican Republic, was there for the ceremony.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
