Sosa socks No. 52
Wood fans 16 as Cubs end 4-game skid
Posted: Thursday August 27, 1998 01:57 AM
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Smokin' Sammy: Sosa has hit 10 home runs in August, second only to his June explosion, when he hit 20 AP |
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Kerry Wood struck out 16 batters and rated no better
than second mention. That's how good Sammy Sosa was.
Sosa hit his 52nd homer, a towering shot off a far-away advertising
panel in left-center field, and provided a couple of memorable touches
Wednesday as the Chicago
Cubs rolled to a 9-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Before the game, Sosa sent Reds manager Jack McKeon a half-dozen
autographed baseballs in gratitude for a nice conversation they had the
previous evening.
"Just tell him not to hit any out today," McKeon responded.
No such luck. Sosa hit one of the season's most impressive homers at
Cinergy Field in the third inning, a solo shot that smacked the facing of
the third deck in left-center some 438 feet away.
It was another major step in the home run race -- he now trails Mark McGwire by
one -- and a personal breakthrough for Sosa, who has faced Brett Tomko
(11-10) six times in his career and struck out every time but one.
"I have a lot of respect for him because he believes in himself," Sosa
said. "When a young kid like that believes in himself, I want to have that
guy on my team in the future."
When Sosa broke his bat -- not the one he used for the home run in the
ninth inning, he handed it to a young fan behind the Cubs' dugout, drawing
yet another ovation on a day when he got one after another.
"He was almost crying when I gave him that bat," Sosa said. "That's why
they came to the ballpark, to see the Cubs play. Hey, I'm feeling great,
the fans have been great this year. I just hope we can continue the job
we've been doing and bring the fans back."
While Sosa got the notice, Wood (12-6) got his first victory since July
31 by striking out 16 in eight innings. It was the second-highest total of
his rookie season, trailing only the record-tying 20 strikeouts on May 6.
Wood also was taken in by Sosa's day.
"Sammy's fun to watch, not only for the fans -- we like to watch him,
too," Wood said. "You never know what's going to happen. He could go out
and hit three. You never know."
He got only one, but it was impressive.
Bringing the heat: Wood fanned 16 Reds Wednesday and has struck out more than 10 batters eight times this season AP | |
Sosa, who struck out in his first at-bat, came up with two outs in the
third and took a ball. After a mighty swing-and-miss on the next pitch, he
backed out, shook his head, adjusted his batting gloves and composed
himself.
"I stepped out and said, `Wow, I've got to slow myself down and try to
go to right field, to calm down a little bit more,'" Sosa said. "When I'm
calmed down, I can see the pitch much better. But when I'm trying to hit
two home runs in one at-bat, that's when I got in trouble."
Tomko's next pitch was big trouble -- a fastball right down the middle.
"I just made one bad pitch to him," Tomko said. "I was trying to throw
inside and I threw it out over the middle of the plate. I just want after
him. That's all you can do."
The 52 homers are the second-highest total for a Cub, trailing only Hack
Wilson's 56 homers in 1930. The solo shot gave Sosa a career-high 130 RBIs
this season, fifth-best in franchise history.
Sosa has homered in each of the Cubs' last 13 series. His 23rd homer on
the road this season matched the club record shared by Wilson (1930), Ernie
Banks (1960) and Dave Kingman (1979).
Fifteen of Sosa's homers have come in Wood's starts.
Gary
Gaetti drove in four runs to help Wood become the first Cubs rookie to
win 12 since Mike
Harkey in 1990. Wood allowed three hits and walked three before
yielding to Rod
Beck, who struck out two in the ninth.
In his four starts since complaining of the tired arm, Wood has struck
out 8, 11, 3 and 16. He has struck out 10 or more in eight starts this
season.
Wood has struck out 223, two shy of the club's rookie mark this century.
Tom Hughes struck out 225 in 1901.
The Cubs gained a split of the two-game series by piling up three runs
in the second off Tomko, a second-year pitcher who is fading as the season
winds down. Gaetti doubled home two runs and eventually scored on Manny
Alexander's suicide squeeze bunt.
Gaetti added a sacrifice fly in the sixth and an infield RBI single in a
four-run ninth.
Aaron
Boone hit his first major-league homer, a solo shot, and center fielder
Lance
Johnson threw into the Cubs' dugout to let in the Reds' other run in
the fifth.
Notes: The artificial turf was caked with mud from Tuesday night's
rain-delayed game. ... Since his last win on July 31, Wood had gone 0-1
with three no-decisions. ... Wood had three strikeouts in the fifth and
struck out the side in the seventh. ... Sosa's last three homers have been
solo shots. ... Tomko has failed to reach the sixth inning in four of his
last five starts, going 1-3 with a no-decision. ... The 18 strikeouts by
the Reds tied the club record for a nine-inning game. Cincinnati also
fanned 18 times against the Astros' Don Wilson on July 14, 1968.
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