Sosa Makes a Real Mark

After chasing him all season, Sammy Sosa finally caught Mark McGwire--at least for a night. Next up, Roger Maris.

Sosa hit his 45th and 46th homers to tie McGwire for the major league lead as the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-5, Monday night.

Sosa’s first homer of the night, a towering blast in the fifth inning into the left-field bleachers, was the first of three consecutive solo shots by the Cubs.

His second one, a solo blast over the center-field bleachers estimated at 480 feet in the seventh, pulled him even for the first time this season with McGwire--who went homerless in St. Louis’ loss to the New York Mets on Monday.

“It was satisfying because we’ve been struggling lately,” Sosa said. “I was swinging out of control so I had to tell myself to relax a bit. I still believe McGwire’s the man no matter what happens. What happened today, I’m just doing my job. I still believe he is going to get on a roll because he’s the man.”

After the game, Cub center fielder Brant Brown was still marveling at Sosa’s second shot.

“He crushed that ball,” Brown said. “That one and the one down the line at Wrigley that hit the house, those are the two farthest balls I’ve seen him hit all year.”

Cub Manager Jim Riggleman called Sosa’s second homer “majestic.”

“Knowing how hard it is to hit a baseball and seeing what he’s doing, it’s an amazing thing,” Riggleman said.

Tyler Houston added a two-run shot as the Cubs hit five homers while ending a four-game losing streak.

Sosa’s first homer began a streak of three consecutive homers in a span of eight pitches. Mark Grace followed with his 13th homer and Henry Rodriguez added his 28th.

Sosa went two for five while increasing his NL-leading RBI total to 116. He struck out in the first and third innings, and popped to second in the ninth.

Barry Bonds hit his third homer in two games, a controversial three-run blast, and Jeff Kent added a solo shot, his 17th, two pitches later for the Giants in the third inning.

Bonds’ 398th homer tied him with Dale Murphy for 28th on the career list and moved him within two homers of becoming the first major leaguer with 400 homers and 400 stolen bases.

The shot bounced off the wall just above the yellow home run line and just beyond the reach of Brown. A fan reached for the ball and appeared to touch it, leading to a short argument from the Cubs.

Kevin Tapani (14-7) gave up five runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Cubs. He has won six of his last seven decisions.

Former Giant Rod Beck, returning for the first time to the ballpark he called home from 1991-1997, pitched the ninth for his 34th save. He retired Bonds, the potential tying run, on a fly ball to the wall in right for the final out.

“It was excruciating watching him come up there,” Riggleman said of Bonds’ at-bat. “He just missed it.”