Cub Fans Tip Hats to Sosa After 3 Homers

Sammy Sosa, to whom the Stanley Cup is as foreign as a flying saucer, got a winter-sport lesson Wednesday afternoon in Chicago.

He was puzzled when hats came sailing out of the stands at Wrigley Field after his third homer in the Cubs’ 9-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Luis Gonzalez had to explain hockey to me,” Sosa said.

Sosa’s first hat trick accounted for five runs and brought the Cubs back from a four-run deficit.

“It’s just another day,” he said. “Another good day.”

Sosa hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning after the Phillies had taken a 4-0 lead. He added a leadoff homer in the sixth, and his two-run homer to center field, his 20th of the season, capped a five-run seventh inning to stretch the lead to 9-6.

Fans responded to the third homer by tossing hats from the bleachers onto the field.

“Sometimes I go crazy and swing at a lot of balls that I shouldn’t,” Sosa said. “When I’m swinging good, I just go up there to make contact. I feel I’ve been trying to do too much. I was happy today--we got the win.”

Ryne Sandberg had his 12th homer for the Cubs, and Gregg Jefferies and Jim Eisenreich each had three hits for the Phillies. Mike Benjamin had a homer and drove in three runs for Philadelphia.

“Sosa hit two fastballs and Sandberg hit a bad fastball that was high and over the plate,” Phillie starter Terry Mulholland said. “Those are bad pitches anywhere but especially here. This place is a joke if you fall behind in the count.”

San Diego 6, St. Louis 4--Tony Gwynn hit his first home run of the season, with two out and two on in the bottom of the ninth inning against Tony Fossas, to finish a Padre comeback and give Trevor Hoffman a victory.

The Padres were behind, 4-2, entering the bottom of the ninth and closed that to within 4-3 when Ozzie Smith’s error scored Jody Reed.

San Francisco 15, Cincinnati 4--Matt Williams and Marvin Benard drove in four runs apiece for the Giants, who scored in each of the first seven innings and sent the new Reds’ mascot, a stuffed gorilla called Slugger, into retirement.

On Tuesday night, club owner Marge Schott had presented the players with the gorilla and it had a place on the bench during a victory.

A night later, San Francisco’s Mark Gardner (7-1) got his fifth victory in a row, pitching seven innings.

Montreal 2, Florida 1--Rheal Cormier (3-3) pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings for the Expos, who got a pre-game dressing down from Manager Felipe Alou and then won in Miami.

Mike Lansing drove in one run with his NL-leading 20th double and saved another run with a diving catch at second base for Montreal, which had lost seven of 10 before Wednesday.

Houston 4, Colorado 1--Donne Wall came within one out of his first major league shutout, but still finished his first complete game, striking out nine in the Astro victory in Houston.

Wall (2-0), called up from Triple-A Tucson on May 14, gave up five hits and, after Dante Bichette doubled in the first inning, did not permit another runner past first base until the ninth.

Atlanta 8, New York 6--Pinch-hitter Tyler Houston hit a two-out, bases-loaded triple in the seventh inning for the Braves, who won in Atlanta despite another poor outing by their starting pitcher.

The Mets, who became the first team this season to score double-figure runs against the Braves in a 12-6 victory over rookie Jason Schmidt on Tuesday night, knocked out starter Steve Avery in the sixth and went ahead 6-5 on Butch Huskey’s three-run double.

But Houston, a rookie who had batted only 18 times all year, came through after the Mets intentionally walked Ryan Klesko to load the bases. Houston hit a 2-and-2 pitch from Dave Mlicki (1-3) just inside the first base bag. All three runners scored when Chris Jones struggled to come up with the ball in the right-field corner.