Sosa whiffs 4 times
Caminiti's solo homer gives Padres 4-3 win over Cubs
Posted: Tuesday September 15, 1998 01:25 AM
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Golden sombrero: The night after the big day, Sammy Sosa struck out four times for the first time this year AP |
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Sammy Sosa struck
out four times for the first time this year, cooling off following an
amazing weekend in Chicago, and Ken Caminiti's
home run in the eighth inning gave the San Diego Padres a 4-3
win over the Cubs on Monday night.
The Padres (95-56) pulled within a game of Atlanta and Houston (96-55)
for the NL's best record. The Cubs' loss handed the Astros the NL Central
title -- Houston lost 7-4 in 13 innings to New York, which pulled even with
the Cubs in the NL wild-card race.
Caminiti's leadoff homer off Matt Karchner
(3-1), his 29th, was the fourth of the game, all solo shots.
Greg Vaughn
hit his 49th for the Padres. For Chicago, Glenallen
Hill homered following Sosa's strikeout in the second inning, and Jose
Hernandez hit a solo shot in the eighth to tie the game at 3.
Sosa came in on a tear, having hit four homers in three games, including
Nos. 61 and 62 on Sunday to catch Mark McGwire in
the race for the most glamorous record in all of sports.
With flashbulbs popping in the large crowd, Sosa struck out looking at a
fastball from left-hander Sterling
Hitchcock in the second inning, then went down swinging three times,
all on split-fingered fastballs. Hitchcock fanned him twice more and Dan Miceli (10-4)
once. Sosa has struck out a major league-leading 156 times.
Trevor
Hoffman pitched the ninth for the major league-leading 50th save,
making him the fourth pitcher in history to reach 50 saves.
Sosa was honored before game time, receiving a standing ovation from the
crowd and a handshake from City Councilman Byron Wear, who serves as deputy
mayor. Padres players Ken Caminiti and Quilvio Veras,
who were warming up nearby, stopped and clapped.
When he came to bat in the second, he got an extended introduction, and
the announcer asked the fans to "please give a San Diego welcome to No. 21
... Sammy Sosa."
After Sosa struck out in the second, Hill homered deep into the left
field seats, his seventh and the 28th allowed by Hitchcock this year.
Vaughn tied the game at 1-1 when he homered to left off Mark Clark
leading off the fourth, extending the Padres' single-season homer record
and his personal-best. Vaughn is poised to join Sosa, McGwire and Ken Griffey
Jr., who already have given baseball three 50-homer players in a season
for the first time.
Scott
Servais singled with two out in the seventh to give the Cubs a 2-1
lead. The Padres jumped ahead in their half of the seventh on Quilvio
Veras' RBI groundout and Tony Gwynn's RBI
double.
Cubs center fielder Lance Johnson
cut down Steve
Finley at the plate to end the second.
Hitchcock allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings, with seven
strikeouts and three walks. Clark allowed three runs and seven hits in 6
2-3 innings.
Notes: Home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman tossed in a specially
marked ball from major league baseball each time Sosa batted. ... The
Padres distributed 60,515 tickets, selling 23,948 and redeeming 36,567
unused tickets. A final attendance count wasn't available.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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