63 for Slammin’ Sammy

With a pregame ceremony and postgame fireworks, the San Diego Padres honored Mexican Independence Day on Wednesday night, enhancing the festive atmosphere that has accompanied the appearance here of the Dominican Republic ambassador, Sammy Sosa.

The celebration provided a fitting backdrop to the ongoing home run duel that has captured the nation’s attention and generated hero status for Sosa in Latin America.

In a news conference in which half the questions were in Spanish, the Chicago Cub right fielder was asked if he was aware of the impact he has had in those countries.

He smiled and said:

“Not only Latin America, but America and the whole world.”

Who can argue?

The inimitable Sosa lit up the satellites again Wednesday night when he matched Mark McGwire’s 63 home runs, slugging a towering grand slam in the eighth inning of a 6-3 victory over the Padres, a victory in which he drove in all of the Chicago runs.

Sosa, who also had a two-run bases-loaded double off Joey Hamilton in the seventh inning and now has a major league-leading 154 runs batted in, generated a bilingual ovation from a Qualcomm Stadium crowd of 49,891 when he connected in the eighth off Brian Boehringer.

The soaring shot carried into the second deck in left field, just inside the foul pole, only the 22nd homer to reach the loge level in stadium history.

Sosa pumped his right fist as he rounded first base and responded to the roars of the crowd with a dugout curtain call and a wave of his cap when he returned to his position at the end of the inning.

McGwire had hit his 63rd Tuesday in St. Louis.

Sosa’s response marked the 21st time that he or McGwire has homered on the day or the day after the other has homered, a duel within the duel.

“I knew it was gone when I hit it,” Sosa said of his slam. “I had that situation earlier [in the game]. I didn’t want to strike out. I just wanted to be sure and make contact. I can’t think of a better way [to reach 63]. It was unbelievable. The game was on the line.”

Sosa and McGwire have nine games remaining as they approach the final week of a remarkable season in which those nine games have more significance to the Cubs than the home run title.

The win enabled the long star-crossed Cubs to remain half a game ahead of the New York Mets in the National League wild-card race, while the loss dropped the Padres three games behind the Atlanta Braves in the battle for the league’s best record and the home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Sosa had only one hit in his nine at-bats during the first two games of the series, but he brought in a career average of .382 against Hamilton and went to work immediately.

He slashed a first-inning single, but then hit a fly out and struck out before breaking up a scoreless duel between Hamilton and Terry Mulholland with his seventh-inning double into the left-field corner.

A double by Ken Caminiti and home run by Carlos Hernandez enabled the Padres to tie the score, 2-2, in the bottom of the seventh, but singles by Tyler Houston and Orlando Merced and a walk to Lance Johnson led to the bases-loaded situation and arrival of right-hander Boehringer in the eighth.

Sosa hit the second pitch into the loge seats for a 6-2 lead that Rod Beck nervously preserved in the ninth, notching his 48th save on a night when the number that will be remembered was 63--or sesenta y tres.

* DODGERS WIN: Bohanon and Shaw combine on an eight-hitter against Rockies. C3