Home Run Mark a Hollow Record for Sosa

Sammy Sosa broke the major league record for homers in a month and Kerry Wood pitched six strong innings without a decision.

But it was Tony Clark’s three-run homer in the seventh inning on Thursday that made the difference when the Tigers defeated the Chicago Cubs, 6-4, at Detroit.

Clark’s homer, an estimated 450-foot blast to center field off Terry Mulholland, broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Tigers a two-game sweep of the Cubs, who have lost five consecutive games and 12 of 16.

Sosa hit his 32nd homer, leading off the seventh inning. It was his 19th homer in June, breaking the major league mark of 18 set by Detroit’s Rudy York in August 1937.

“I’m happy I’m in the book, but for me it don’t mean nothing right now because we lost the game,” Sosa said.

Sosa has connected 12 times in his last 13 games, and 23 times with 45 RBIs in the last 26 games.

Detroit’s Damion Easley homered and Geronimo Berroa, making his Tiger debut, had a two-run double off Wood.

Cleveland 8, St. Louis 2--Mark McGwire hit his 35th home run and nearly became the first player to hit a ball out of Jacobs Field, but the Indians got two homers from Jim Thome to defeat the Cardinals at Cleveland.

McGwire, who homered for the second consecutive night, hit a 461-foot shot off Dave Burba (9-5) in the first inning that hit a steel support beam attached to the left-field scoreboard.

New York Yankees 6, Atlanta 0--The Yankees cruised behind David Wells’ six-hitter in a victory at Atlanta.

New York, with the best record in the majors, took three of four games from the Braves, who have the top record in the National League.

Texas 9, Arizona 4--Will Clark and Ivan Rodriguez drove in three runs each and Todd Van Poppel won for the first time in nearly two years as the Rangers won at Phoenix.

Juan Gonzalez drove in his major league-leading 94th run for the Rangers, the highest-scoring team in the majors.

Oakland 5, San Francisco 2--Rickey Henderson hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, and the Athletics took advantage of Shawn Estes’ wildness to win at San Francisco.

It was the A’s second consecutive victory at 3Com Park against their cross-bay neighbor.

Colorado 6, Houston 5--Kurt Abbott’s double off the wall in left-center field scored Vinny Castilla with the winning run in the 12th inning as the Rockies finished a two-game series sweep at Colorado.

Milwaukee 9, Minnesota 2--Cal Eldred gave up two runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings, and got all the support he needed in a three-run first inning as the Brewers won at Minneapolis.

Toronto 1, Montreal 0--Woody Williams pitched a five-hitter in outdueling Carlos Perez for his first shutout as the Blue Jays won at Montreal for a season-high fifth consecutive victory.

Boston 7, Philadelphia 5--Bret Saberhagen limited the Phillies to five hits and no earned runs in six innings as the Red Sox won at Philadelphia to end a three-game losing streak.

Florida 5, Tampa Bay 1--Livan Hernandez pitched an eight-hitter for his second consecutive complete game and Gregg Zaun homered and drove in two runs as the Marlins won at Miami.

Hernandez (6-4) struck out nine and walked one for his fifth complete game of the season.

New York Mets 3, Baltimore 2--Carlos Baerga singled home the winning run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning as Mets won at New York.

Baerga’s third hit of the game came against Armando Benitez (2-2), who walked Edgardo Alfonzo and John Olerud.

Cincinnati 7, Chicago White Sox 5--Pokey Reese hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs for the Reds, who defeated the White Sox in Chicago.