Sosa’s Two Home Runs Aren’t Enough for Cubs

Sammy Sosa climbed the career charts with two more homers, only to watch the Chicago Cubs let a big game slip away.

Sean Casey’s homer capped a six-run sixth inning that rallied the Cincinnati Reds to a 9-7 victory Thursday night at Cincinnati.

The loss left the Cubs tied for the Central Division lead with Houston, which beat Milwaukee.

Chicago hasn’t won a division title since 1989 and hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1998, when the Cubs were the wild card.

Sosa’s two-run homer in the third inning gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead and moved him ahead of Mickey Mantle into 10th place on the career list with 537. It also gave him 100 RBIs for the ninth consecutive season, the first time it has been done in the National League.

By the time he hit his 39th in the eighth inning, the Cubs had lost their lead and their final-week momentum.

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Houston 6, Milwaukee 1 -- Morgan Ensberg hit two home runs at Houston and the Astros moved into a tie for the Central Division lead.

The Astros end the regular season with three home games against last-place Milwaukee. The Cubs finish with a three-game series at home against Pittsburgh.

If the Astros and Cubs tie for the division title, a one-game playoff will be played Monday at Wrigley Field.

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Arizona 8, Colorado 7 -- At Coors Field, Quinton McCracken’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning gave the Diamondbacks their 10th victory in 14 games.

Robby Hammock led off the ninth with a walk off Brian Fuentes (3-3), advanced to second on a groundout and scored on McCracken’s two-out single up the middle.

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Pittsburgh 3, New York 1 -- At Shea Stadium, Mike Piazza played first base for the first time since 1993 with the Dodgers when he moved from behind the plate in the ninth. He made all three putouts in the inning.

Tom Glavine started for the Mets and teammate Mike Glavine, his younger brother, made his first major league start at first base.