Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Giants 12, Cubs 4
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Wrigley Field fans got to see plenty of home runs, including one by Sammy Sosa. But three San Francisco players — none of them named Barry Bonds — homered to offset a two-run shot by Sosa as the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 12-4 on Tuesday night.
David Bell and Reggie Sanders each hit two-run homers and drove in another run, and Tsuyoshi Shinjo had a solo homer and another RBI.
“Tonight we had more offense than most of the season,” Bell said. “It was a great game for offense, defense and pitching. Everyone contributed. I don't know if one part of the game was better than the other.”
Kirk Rueter (2-1) scattered two hits over seven innings, allowing his only runs on Sosa's homer to right in the sixth.
It was Sosa's seventh homer of the season, leaving him one behind Bonds.
“When your team helps you out, it really lets you go at them harder,” Rueter said. “We're just out there to give them a chance, but the offense took it upon themselves tonight.”
The Cubs have now lost five of their last six. Not even a 20-minute team meeting before the game helped get Chicago's sluggish bats going.
The Giants outhit the Cubs 13-5. Chicago's big three — Sosa, Fred McGriff and Moises Alou — were a combined 1-for-7.
“I'm not going to give up on anybody,” Cubs manager Don Baylor said. “I'm going to keep writing guys in there and hope we turn the corner eventually. We have to.”
The game had been billed as a showdown between baseball's two biggest sluggers. Bonds went 0-for-3, reaching base once after being hit by a pitch. Nursing a sore hamstring, he was lifted in the bottom of the sixth.
Sosa finished 1-for-3 with a walk.
But the Giants didn't need a big night from Bonds. Not with the rest of his teammates tagging Cubs starter Jason Bere (1-2) like they did.
“We're scraping for wins, and to put us in a hole that early is frustrating,” said Bere, whose ERA climbed to 7.27. “When you walk two runs in, that just can't happen.”
Bere gave up six runs — five earned — and four hits in two-plus innings. He walked four and didn't strike anyone out. Things were so ugly in the five-run third inning that the Giants scored their first six runs on two batted balls, a hit and a sacrifice fly.
It was Bere's second bad outing in a row. He allowed six earned runs in 2 2-3 innings last Wednesday against Montreal.
“I think it's two different outings,” Bere said. “Today it was a location factor.”
Rich Aurilia led off the third with a single, and Bere quickly fell apart. He hit Bonds in the upper right thigh with his first pitch, but it was clearly unintentional as he walked his next three batters.
Jesus Sanchez relieved, but Shinjo drove in his first run with a sacrifice fly and Sanders scored on a wild pitch. Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez loaded the bases again when he skipped the throw on Rueter's grounder in the dirt in front of McGriff, and Bell followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.
“It's a 14-day trip, so we have to win this series,” Sanders said.
The Giants added three more runs in the fourth on Sanders' two-run homer and Shinjo's solo shot. Bell made it 12-0 in the sixth when he launched the first pitch from Donovan Osborne onto Waveland Avenue.
Rueter ran into some trouble in the first, throwing 35 pitches and loading the bases with a two-out walk to Alou. But Gonzalez lined out to end the threat, and Rueter retired his next 13 batters.
He walked Chris Stynes in the sixth, and Sosa homered on the first pitch.
“I'll take early runs any time,” Rueter said. “Any of their guys in the middle of the order can hit it out of the park, so you need as much early help as possible.”
Notes: In 91 games between Bonds and Sosa, they've both homered in the same contest nine times. ... Rueter has won 12 of his last 19 decisions, dating back to last June 1. ... The Giants recalled 1B Damon Minor from his rehab assignment in Triple-A Fresno to take the roster spot that opened when Calvin Murray was traded to the Texas Rangers. Minor had been out since April 6 with left patella tendinitis.
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Giants 12, Cubs 4 
