Sosa Remains Stuck, Cubs Remain Tied

Sammy Sosa’s stuck. Can’t get off 58 homers but can’t complain, either. Even when he doesn’t get good pitches to hit.

“I can’t go out there and think about home run all the time,” Sosa said after his drought reached five games as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2, Thursday night to stay tied with the New York Mets in the National League wild-card race.

“They pitched me well the last couple of days and didn’t give me anything to hit. And if they want to walk me, I’ll take it.”

Sosa, trailing Mark McGwire by four homers with 15 games left, went hitless in two at-bats with two walks.

“I’ve been doing my job all year long. Every player will go through a little slump,” he said.

Chicago got strong pitching from Kevin Tapani and key hits from Mark Grace and Brant Brown in a five-run third inning.

Sosa hit a high fly to center and walked against Jose Silva (6-4). He walked again in the fifth against reliever Jeff Tabaka, producing boos from a disappointed crowd of 38,722 at Wrigley Field. Against Ricardo Rincon, Sosa struck out in the seventh.

“Boy, he stinks,” Grace said sarcastically. “Probably in St. Louis we got caught up in the McGwire carnival atmosphere. But we have to worry about the wild-card chase now, not the home run chase.”

Tapani (18-7) raised his career record against the Pirates to 5-0, including four wins this year. He gave up eight hits in eight innings and won his sixth consecutive decision.