Olivo Gives Team a Farewell Gift

Miguel Olivo made his last game with the Chicago White Sox count.

Olivo homered off Greg Maddux and played a key role Sunday in sparking the Chicago White Sox to a 9-4 victory over the Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field.

Slaps on the back quickly became goodbye hugs when Olivo was traded to the Seattle Mariners in a deal for Freddy Garcia that was announced minutes after the game ended.

Olivo was too upset to talk, but teammate Paul Konerko, who drove in three runs Sunday and had nine RBIs in the three-game series, wished him well.

“Trades are part of the game. On one hand, we are happy to get Freddy Garcia. That’s a big move for us. He is a quality starting pitcher. He is one of the best out there,” Konerko said.

“You don’t want to see one of your good pals go like Olivo. But at the same time, he’s going to be fine. He’s going to be an All-Star.”

Timo Perez also homered off Maddux, who was roughed up in his first appearance against the White Sox, who won two of three.

The teams play again next weekend at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs, who won the opener Friday, lost Sunday despite two homers by Sammy Sosa -- his first in nearly six weeks.

“They got me. I didn’t feel like I threw that many pitches over the middle of the plate, but the ones I did they didn’t miss,” said Maddux, who gave up 11 hits and nine runs -- seven earned -- in four-plus innings.

Konerko, who hit three-run homers in each of the first two games, got the White Sox started with a two-run, bases-loaded single in the first and later added a sacrifice fly.

“I think everybody definitely gives a little more during these games because it’s a playoff atmosphere,” Konerko said. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s grueling.”

Sosa homered in his first two at-bats against Esteban Loaiza (8-3), giving him 12 for the season and 551 for his career.

He hit a 454-foot solo shot that landed in the shrubbery under a fan deck in center -- his first homer in nine games since coming off the disabled list, and his first since May 15.

He followed that with a two-run shot in the third that put the Cubs up, 4-3. Sosa, who’d been on the disabled list because of a sprained ligament in his back from a sneezing attack, finished two for four.

“I stayed home for 32 days. I’m back,” Sosa said.