Three Is Enough for Sosa

After hitting a trio of three-run homers and tying a franchise record with nine runs batted in--all in the first five innings--Sammy Sosa decided that was enough.

The Colorado Rockies must have agreed.

Sosa removed himself from the game in the sixth, and his Chicago Cubs routed the Rockies, 15-1, Saturday night.

“When you’re up 15-1 and you have a day game the next day and you had a game like I had, you need to know when you’ve had enough,” Sosa said. “I went three for four and had nine RBIs, and that was good enough for me.

“I have to give respect to the other team. I don’t need to go out and get more. I had a pretty good day. So I decided to shut it down.”

Sosa connected in consecutive at-bats in the third, fourth and fifth innings at Coors Field. He took over the major league lead with 38 homers and matched Johnny Mize’s record of six career three-homer games.

The nine RBIs were a career high for Sosa and tied the club mark set by Heinie Zimmerman in 1911. Sosa also became the fifth player with home runs in three consecutive innings.

“It was one of those games where you get a couple of mistakes and you hit them out,” Sosa said.

He exited before getting a chance to match the big league record of four homers in a game, accomplished by Seattle’s Mike Cameron and the Dodgers’ Shawn Green already this year.

“We talked it over,” Cub Manager Bruce Kimm said. “He was very satisfied with the night. He knows we have a day game [today]. He was thinking about the other players a little bit too. It was a good time to get them some at-bats. It was a very unselfish move.”

The beneficiary of all that offense was rookie Mark Prior (6-3). He went six innings, allowing five hits and one run with eight strikeouts.

Sosa’s first two drives--off Shawn Chacon--were estimated at 490 and 468 feet.