Sosa Hits 20th, Cubs Win, 7-6

Sammy Sosa hit his league-leading 20th home run and drove in four runs, and Mark Grace had a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning as the Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-6, Monday night before 44,082, the Diamondbacks’ second-largest crowd this year.

Sosa drove in two runs with the homer and two more with a fifth-inning single past shortstop, helping send Arizona to its third loss in 13 games.

Travis Lee hit two two-run homers for Arizona and has four home runs in four games.

With the score 6-6, Jose Hernandez tripled off Darren Holmes (3-3) leading off the ninth and Grace singled off Greg Swindell for his third hit of the game.

Terry Adams (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win.

Lee homered in the fourth off Kyle Farnsworth and the eighth off Felix Heredia.

Farnsworth allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings, giving up fourth-inning homers to Luis Gonzalez and Lee. Diamondback starter Brian Anderson gave up six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Sosa’s homer put the Cubs ahead in the fourth, but Arizona took a 3-2 lead in the bottom half on Gonzalez’s leadoff homer and Lee’s opposite-field drive, which followed Matt Williams’ first triple since May 17, 1998.

Chicago rallied for a 6-3 lead in the fifth on Grace’s RBI single, Sosa’s hit and Glenallen Hill’s run-scoring single.

Gonzalez had an RBI single in the fifth after Tony Womack stretched a leadoff hit to right into a double.

Sosa made his first start in center field, after 53 in right, to replace Lance Johnson, who jammed a thumb during the weekend series at Cleveland.

Sosa knocked the wind out of himself making a diving catch of a sinking liner by Andy Fox, but held on to end the sixth inning, and moved back to right.

Sosa is four for four with the bases loaded this year, but he is without a grand slam.