Thursday, September 26, 2002
Reds steal Sosa's show
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — The Reds stole Sammy Sosa's show, hitting four home runs Wednesday night while Sosa remained stuck on 498 career homers.
“If it happens, great. If it doesn't, I'll wait for next year, said Sosa, who hasn't homered since Friday and has five in his last 22 games.
Trying to become the 18th major leaguer with 500 homers, he went 0-for-4 and got a ball out of the infield only once, a flyout to right in the ninth.
Sosa also needs two homers in the Cubs' final four games to become the first player in major league history with five 50-homer seasons.
“It doesn't matter to me,” Sosa said of the records. “My career is not going to end if I don't hit it.”
The crowd of 29,658 came to Wrigley Field hoping to see Sosa, not the Reds, go deep. Fans stood and applauded loudly each time Sosa came to bat, and flashbulbs popped all over the park every time he took a swing.
He got a standing ovation when he came to bat in the sixth with runners at first and second, and the cheers grew as he worked Reds starter Ryan Dempster to a 3-2 count. But the at-bat ended in another groundout, and the fans settled back into their seats with a disappointed sigh.
“The last two at-bats, I got some good pitches. I got good swings on them and just missed it,” Sosa said. “He pitched me tough. He had a very good plan.”
That plan was to stay away from the middle of the plate.
“I pretty much threw him sinkers, keeping it on the inner part of the plate,” Dempster said. “I threw him some good ones, but not many in the middle part of the plate.
“He can pretty much hit any pitch, so fortunately, I was able to tie him up.”
Cubs starter Matt Clement (12-11) was rocked for a season-high seven runs in three innings, his shortest outing of the year. Russell Branyan, Juan Castro, Kelly Stinnett and Todd Walker all homered off him.
“I didn't pitch particularly well,” Clement said. “One of my goals coming into the season was to eliminate games like that. I managed to stay away from them the whole way until tonight.
“It wasn't the way I wanted to finish up.”
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Reds steal Sosa's show
