Sosa’s Three Homers Not Enough

Sammy Sosa made history with three home runs, but the one that Moises Alou hit won the game.

Sosa became the first player to hit three home runs in a game three times in a season, but Alou’s two-run shot in the seventh inning rallied the Houston Astros to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Alou’s game-winner bounced off a ledge above the left-field scoreboard and over the fence, despite protests from the Cubs.

“I don’t know so much about the ground rules here, but I remember that home run off [Jose] Canseco’s head and I think mine was more legitimate than that,” Alou laughed.

Carlos Martinez homered in 1993 at Cleveland when he hit a ball that bounced off Canseco’s head and over the fence.

Sosa boosted his season total to 58 home runs. With a chance to tie the major league record for homers in a game, he hit a routine fly ball on a 3-0 pitch in the eighth inning.

“I understand I had a great day,” Sosa said. “We played good today. He made a good pitch right there at 3-0 and I just missed it.”

The Astros’ comeback gave them a 41/2-game lead over St. Louis in the Central Division. The Cubs remained 31/2 games behind the Cardinals for the wild-card spot.

All of Sosa’s homers came off Tim Redding (3-2), including a 454-foot solo shot in the fourth inning that was the fourth-longest in Enron Field history.

Sosa also had three-homer performances on Aug. 9 against Colorado and Aug. 22 against Arizona. In both of those games, he was taken out before getting another at-bat.

Sosa hit a two-run homer in the first inning and solo shots in the fourth and sixth. They were his 93rd, 94th and 95th extra-base hits this season. He needs three to break the club record of 97 set by Hack Wilson in 1930.

In the seventh, Jeff Bagwell hit a run-scoring double off Julian Tavarez before Alou homered off David Weathers (4-5).

The ball hit below the yellow line on the scoreboard, setting off protests from the Cub bench, and third-base umpire Dana DeMuth said he first thought it went through the fence for a ground-rule double.

“I put up two right away because I thought it went through,” DeMuth said. “All of a sudden, I saw the ball pop into the air and go about three rows back. So, I had to make sure I got the crew together and change it.”

Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer for the Astros in the third inning, his 33rd. Craig Biggio had an RBI single in the fourth.

Billy Wagner pitched the ninth, getting his 37th save in 39 opportunities.