Cubs Feel at Home in Puerto Rico

The scorecard said Montreal was the home team against the Chicago Cubs.

The cheers in the stands told otherwise.

Moises Alou hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning, and the Cubs overcame a scary moment when Sammy Sosa was hit in the helmet with a pitch in a 4-3 victory over the Expos on Tuesday night at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Every Chicago run was cheered loudly by the crowd of 15,632 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. There were Sosa and Cub jerseys everywhere. And when Sosa was hit by Zach Day in the fourth inning, a collective gasp was followed by a resounding boo from the crowd.

“It doesn’t really surprise me,” Alou said. “A lot of people from the Dominican Republic were telling me they were going to come down to see this series.”

The Cubs won their sixth in a row and remained in a tie with Houston for the National League Central lead.

Alou, who is from the neighboring Dominican Republic, said the team was distracted and nervous going into its first game at San Juan, where the Expos play 22 “home” games this year.

Manager Dusty Baker, who played with the Santurce Crabbers of the Puerto Rican Winter League in 1971, said he expected a warm reception and a fun atmosphere at the game.

“This is Puerto Rico. You’re going to have lots of music, lots of noise, lots of excitement,” Baker said.

“The stadium is a little different. It’s nice, I feel like I haven’t been away that long,” he said.

After Sosa was hit, the All-Star right fielder took a knee and was immediately approached by Baker and the team’s trainer. After a few minutes, Sosa walked to first and appeared to be fine. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Aramis Ramirez.

Carlos Zambrano (12-6) gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings, and struck out five. Joe Borowski gave up a pinch-hit homer to Jose Macias in the ninth before earning his 26th save.

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Philadelphia 18, Atlanta 5 -- Tomas Perez and Jason Michaels each hit grand slams at Atlanta to help keep the Phillies even with Florida in the wild-card race.

For the second consecutive game, Mike Lieberthal gave the Phillies a quick lead with a three-run homer in the first.

Perez and Michaels became the third duo in Philadelphia history to hit two slams in a game. Ralph Miller and Lee Meadows were the first April 28, 1921, and Billy McMillon and Lieberthal did it Aug. 18, 1997.

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Houston 7, Milwaukee 6 -- Lance Berkman doubled home the go-ahead run with two out in the top of the ninth inning.

The Astros tied the score on pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino’s three-run homer in the eighth.

Billy Wagner earned a team-record 40th save and the Astros remained in a first-place tie with Chicago in the National League Central.

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Florida 3, New York 1 -- Alex Gonzalez drove in two runs with a two-out triple in the top of the ninth inning and the Marlins won for the 10th time in 12 games to remain tied with Philadelphia atop the NL wild-card standings.

Florida’s Derrek Lee strode toward the mound after he was struck by a David Weathers’ pitch in the ninth, but he was steered to first base and the benches didn’t empty.

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Colorado 8, St. Louis 1 -- Gregg Zaun homered and drove in four runs at St. Louis, and the Rockies ended an eight-game losing streak.

The Cardinals dropped 2 1/2 games behind Chicago and Houston in the NL Central.

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San Francisco 8, San Diego 3 -- Marquis Grissom hit his 200th homer, and the Giants hit another four homers at San Diego.

Grissom, J.T. Snow and Edgardo Alfonzo each hit two-run drives.

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Cincinnati 10, Pittsburgh 6 -- Russell Branyan hit a three-run homer and Wily Mo Pena hit a go-ahead two-run shot as the Reds scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.