Bad Break for NL Homer Leader Sosa

Sammy Sosa faces at least a month without baseball, and the Chicago Cubs must chase a playoff spot without their popular power hitter, who leads the National League with 40 homers.

“When you lose a guy like me, it’s a big hole in the lineup. I realize that,” Sosa said Wednesday when X-rays revealed he would sit out four to six weeks because of a broken bone in his right hand.

“But they can do it. It will be a test. The way I was going, it’s tough to be out of the lineup and not helping out.”

Sosa, who has 100 RBIs, was struck on the hand by a pitch from Florida’s Mark Hutton in the first inning of Tuesday’s game at Wrigley Field.

The injury ends Sosa’s streak of 304 consecutive games, the third longest active streak in the majors behind Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. and San Francisco’s Barry Bonds, whose streak of 354 games is also in jeopardy because of a hamstring strain.

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The New York Yankees optioned right-handed starter David Weathers to triple-A Columbus and purchased the contract of right-hander Wally Whitehurst--who becomes the fourth ex-Met on their roster, joining David Cone, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. . . . Cone continued his comeback from surgery to remove an aneurysm from his pitching shoulder, pitching four innings for Norwich of the double-A Eastern League. Cone threw 54 pitches, giving up two runs and four hits against Binghamton. He walked none and struck out seven. . . . The Baltimore Orioles, desperate to fortify a bullpen depleted by injuries, acquired right-hander Terry Mathews from the Marlins for a player to be named. Mathews, 31, was 2-4 with a 4.91 ERA and four saves. . . . The Colorado Rockies purchased the contract of Steve Decker, a catcher who hasn’t played in more than 79 games in any of his six major league seasons. . . . Cleveland Indian first baseman Julio Franco, who has battled a hamstring injury since June, said he will try to play Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. . . . The Texas Rangers signed right-handed pitcher R.A. Dickey of Tennessee, their top selection in the 1996 free agent draft, just before he started fall semester classes. If Dickey had enrolled in school, the Rangers wouldn’t have been able to sign him until he dropped out.