Sosa Back Home but Still Unable to Hit Home Run

Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field, but his power stroke didn’t.

“I can’t do it every day,” Sosa said after going homerless for the fourth consecutive game as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2, on Wednesday

“Right now they are not giving me much to hit,” Sosa said. “They’re pitching me really well.”

With 16 games left, Sosa’s chances of catching his rival and newest best buddy Mark McGwire grow slimmer.

“I got to keep playing the way I’m supposed to, no matter what,” Sosa said. “If I catch him fine. If I don’t, I want to go to the playoffs and that’s what counts for me. I’m not thinking about passing Mark McGwire. The season ends Sept. 27 and Mark will go home. I want to go to the playoffs.”

Sosa went 0 for 3 with a walk and has gone four games without a homer for the first time since Aug. 11-15.

Mark Grace hit a three-run homer for the Cubs, who remained tied with the New York Mets atop the NL wild-card race.

New York 6, Philadelphia 2--Armando Reynoso took a shutout into the ninth inning as the Mets beat Curt Schilling and the Phillies at Philadelphia.

Reynoso (7-1) left after Scott Rolen’s two-run homer, his 28th. He gave up six hits in eight-plus innings, struck out seven and walked one.

Met Manager Bobby Valentine was ejected in the top of the eighth for arguing a called third strike to Phillips.

Houston 6, Milwaukee 2--Jeff Bagwell homered for the second consecutive game as the Astros won their fifth in a row by beating the Brewers at Houston.

The victory moved the Astros one game ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the National League.

The Astros have won 17 of their last 21 games.

Jose Lima (15-7) won for the seventh time in eight decisions.

Montreal 3, Atlanta 2--Chris Widger hit a leadoff homer in the ninth inning at Montreal as the Braves lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

Widger connected off John Rocker (1-3) for his 15th homer of the season.

Ugueth Urbina (5-3) struck out three batters in a row in the ninth as the Expos won for the fourth time in five games.

San Diego 8, San Francisco 3--At San Diego, Greg Vaughn hit his 48th homer as the Padres tied a franchise record with their 92nd victory.

The game was punctuated by a wild eighth inning, when San Francisco reliever Julian Tavarez was ejected for reacting angrily after walking Chris Gomez. Tavarez slammed his glove to the ground, tossed his cap toward the plate and ended up chest-to-chest with umpire Sam Holbrook before being pulled away by Manager Dusty Baker.

After Tavarez was ejected, the Padres scored four runs on four walks and Carlos Hernandez’s two-run single. Trevor Hoffman earned his major league-leading 47th save.

Colorado 9, Florida 8--Kurt Abbott tied the score with a two-run homer in the eighth and Darryl Hamilton singled home the winning run in the ninth as the Rockies overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Marlins at Denver.

Cliff Floyd hit a pair of two-run homers for the Marlins, who have lost 12 of 13. At 48-98, the World Series champions have the worst record in the major leagues.