Sosa, McGwire each homer, tied at 66 with 2 games left
Posted: Saturday September 26, 1998 08:18 AM
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Coming through: Sammy Sosa has 11 homers and 21 RBIs in September, including three homers and four RBIs in his last four at-bats AP |
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- Sammy Sosa held
the lead in the home run chase for a mere 42 minutes Friday night before Mark McGwire
pulled even with a shot to left field against the Montreal Expos.
Facing friend and fellow Dominican Jose Lima, Sosa
lined an 0-1 pitch into the third deck in left-center field to lead off the
fourth inning.
"You see my face?" a beaming Sosa said. "I'm not here to chase anybody. I'm
here to do my job."
His 462-foot shot was his fourth in nine games against the Astros, and his
third against Lima, who yielded Nos. 50 and 51 at Wrigley Field on August
23. Unfortunately for the Cubs in their wild-card race, Sosa's homer was
the lone bright spot in a 6-2 loss to Houston.
The Cardinals' McGwire answered Sosa with a two-run shot in the fifth
inning against Montreal reliever Shayne Bennett. Sosa had tied McGwire at
65 with two home runs Wednesday at Milwaukee, snapping his 0-for-21 slump.
With a runner on first, two outs and the fans on their feet, McGwire hit a
1-2 pitch an estimated 375 feet into the left-field stands. The homer was
his second of the year against Montreal and first since he connected off
Trey Moore on April 21.
"We don't have any control over it," McGwire said, who led the Cardinals to
a 6-5 victory over Montreal. "We get in the box and he [Sosa] has to
battle, I have to battle. It's one of those things that's unexplainable, so
let's leave it unexplainable."
Also as usual, McGwire reiterated that he didn't care who won the home run
derby.
"What he [Sosa] and I have done, whoever's on top, nobody should be
disappointed," McGwire said. "How can you walk away disappointed if you
walk away one below? You can't. It's impossible."
Rookie J.D. Drew had two two-run homers for the Cardinals, who have won 10
of 12 to guarantee a winning record. But the focus was all on McGwire and
the deadlocked home run derby, which has two games to go.
Manager Tony La Russa has stressed team performance all year, even after
McGwire broke Roger Maris' record on September 8. Not anymore.
"As far as I'm concerned, Mark McGwire's home run chase is the most
important thing the next two days," La Russa said. "It's like heresy for me
to say it, but he deserves everything we've got behind him and he's going
to get every little bit we do."
McGwire had been 2-for-11 on the homestand with two singles before homering
Friday night. He extended his NL record to 161 walks on a full count in the
first against Miguel
Batista and lined out to left in the third.
When Sosa took the lead in the home run derby for only the second time at
Houston, it prompted a collective groan from a sellout crowd at Busch
Stadium and it booed when Sosa's home run number was changed on the
scoreboard.
McGwire said he doesn't watch the scoreboard, but he was aware of it.
"Of course, how can you not?" McGwire said. "It's pretty obvious."
On the first pitch from Bennett, McGwire nearly homered on a ball that
landed just to the left of the foul pole in the upper deck in left field.
Busch Stadium personnel inadvertently set off fireworks after the
near-miss.
"False alarm," McGwire said with a grin. "The guy was trigger-happy."
In 204 career games with the Cardinals, McGwire has 90 homers, 182 RBIs and 204 walks AP | |
Bennett thought he'd escaped.
"It was quite funny," Bennett said. "I looked at him and he was giving it
the look-see. He looked at me as if it was really foul and I gave the
little inch signal as if to say by that much."
But the fans didn't have to wait long for the real thing.
Bennett, who is from Australia, wasn't at all upset about his place in
history.
"I came to America on vacation, now I gave up the 66th," Bennett joked. "I
never should have stayed. He didn't even hit it on the good part of the
bat; if he did it wouldn't gone out of the stadium."
Following Sosa's two-homer game off Lima, there was a published report
questioning whether Lima grooved a pitch for the Cubs star. Both players
denied the allegation.
Sosa has been ahead of McGwire in the home-run chase just once this season.
On August 19, Sosa hit No. 48 in a game against St. Louis -- about an hour
later, McGwire also hit his 48th and the Cardinals slugger connected later
in the game to take the lead.
Both Sosa, whose Cubs were tied for the NL wild-card lead, and McGwire
began Friday with three games left.
If the Cubs end tied with one or both, they'll be in a one-game playoff
either Monday or Tuesday that counts as a regular-season game.
"I don't know how we're going to finish," Sosa said. "But the way things
look, we have a lot of chances to make it. We have to come back [Saturday]
and win, then think about the other games."
Though Sosa's homer tied the score at 2, the partisan Astros crowd roared
with approval, then cheered again later when the Astrodome's giant screens
showed McGwire tie him with a two-run homer off Montreal reliever Shayne
Bennett.
"This is different than in '61. I think everyone wanted [Mickey] Mantle to
win [over Roger Maris] because he was so popular," Astros slugger Jeff Bagwell
said. "This year, everyone pulls for Sosa AND McGwire. Maybe a tie is the
best thing. It's been such a special year for both guys."
The packed Astrodome cheered loudly as Sosa rounded the bases, flashbulbs
popping. He acknowledged fans with a curtain call.
"I think he was looking for that pitch inside," Lima said. "We had pitched
him inside the first time around, so he was expecting it. It was a
fastball, and it was a good pitch. I tip my hat to him."
Before the game, Sosa admitted he was playing with a heavy heart having
heard details of the destruction in the Dominican Republic caused by
Hurricane Georges. His charitable foundation is organizing an emergency
relief effort.
"The president [Leonel Fernandez] called me and explained what has
happened," Sosa said. "He told me to go out and play the games, because
this is my job and I'm here to do it, no matter what."
The latest homer was No. 453 of McGwire's career, putting him in 20th place
ahead of Carl Yastrzemski. He has hit 176 homers the last three seasons.
In 204 career games with the Cardinals, McGwire has 90 homers, 182 RBIs and
204 walks. He has 47 homers and 95 RBIs in 104 career games at Busch
Stadium.
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