NL ROUNDUP : Sosa Belts No. 59; Cubs Lose Again

Sixty now seems a cinch for Sammy Sosa.

Only one more powerful swing, one more drive over a fence or a wall, either at Wrigley Field or elsewhere, and he will be the first major league player to reach 60 homers twice.

“The whole world is pretty much thinking about it,” Sosa said Thursday after hitting his 59th homer in the Chicago Cubs’ 5-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Chicago. “For me, the more I think about it, the more anxious I get, so I don’t want to think about it. I just want to go out there and be relaxed.”

Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hit his benchmark 60 homers in 1927. Six years earlier, he’d hit 59. Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals set the record with 70 last season and has 54 this year with three weeks left.

“For people to mention me with that kind of glory,” Sosa said, “I have to feel great as a person and a human being, but I still got to do my job.”

With a 17-mph wind blowing out on a perfect day for home run hitters, Sosa wasn’t the only one to connect. Another power hitter--one who’s even hotter than Sosa--connected again for the Reds.

Greg Vaughn hit his fifth homer in three games, a two-run, go-ahead shot in the seventh. It was his seventh homer in 26 at-bats, and the Reds’ 23rd homer over a seven-game span. Vaughn, who hit 50 a year ago, has 36 this season.

“He’s been unbelievable,” Sosa said.

Sosa drove a fifth-inning pitch from Pete Harnisch 465 feet into the back row of center-field bushes that serve as a hitter’s backdrop. His drive, which ended a three-game homerless stretch, didn’t need any help from the wind.

With 16 homers in his last 26 games, Sosa is eight games ahead of his 66-homer pace of a year ago, when he fell four short of McGwire.

Milwaukee 9, Arizona 8--Jeromy Burnitz drove in a season-high six runs with a home run, double and two singles at Milwaukee.

Scott Karl (9-11) won at home for the first time in 18 starts since July 15, 1998, giving up six runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Karl, backed by a 6-0 lead after two innings, was 0-9 with a 5.52 earned-run average during his County Stadium winless streak.

Burnitz went four for five, with a two-run double against Armando Reynoso (10-4) in the first, a two-run homer in the second, a run-scoring single against Brian Anderson in the fourth and an RBI single against Darren Holmes in the sixth.

Steve Finley, who hit three home runs Wednesday, hit his fifth in three games and matched his career high with 30.

Houston 3, Philadelphia 1--The Astros completed the best trip in team history--going 7-0--as Ken Caminiti hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning at Philadelphia.

The National League Central-leading Astros won three times at Montreal and then finished a four-game sweep at Veterans Stadium. Houston’s previous top trip was a 6-0 swing in May 1989.

The Phillies have lost six in a row and 13 of 14.

San Diego 10, Montreal 3--Buddy Carlyle (1-1) got his first major league victory and Chris Gomez went four for five at San Diego as the Padres won for the 10th time in 14 games.