Sosa Switches to a Hot Bat and Hits No. 49

After going homerless and seeing teammate Glenallen Hill hit a pinch-hit home run Thursday, Sammy Sosa decided it was time for a change.

So Friday he borrowed Hill’s bat.

The result? Three hits, including his 49th homer.

“I was using a white bat before and probably that white bat was a little tired right now. So I had to change it,” Sosa said after the Chicago Cubs rallied with two ninth-inning runs off Robb Nen to defeat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5, at Wrigley Field.

“So I used [Hill’s] bat and, hey, it came through,” Sosa said.

After Hill performed the heroics Thursday, it was Jose Hernandez who delivered a game-winning single off Nen on Friday.

“With Mark Grace on third I knew we had a chance to win. I was just trying for a fly ball or a hit,” Hernandez said.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Sosa singled with one out against Nen (7-4) and Grace walked. Henry Rodriguez then lofted a broken-bat single to right to drive in Sosa and tie the game.

Hernandez singled down the right-field line over a drawn-in infield as Nen blew his fourth save in 35 opportunities.

Felix Heredia (1-3) got two outs for the victory.

Sosa moved within two of St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire’s major league home run lead. His 49 homers ties Andre Dawson for second-most in club history.

The club and National League record is 56 by Hack Wilson in 1930.

The Cubs are tied with the New York Mets for the NL wild-card lead. The Giants are four games back.

Kerry Wood, without a victory in four starts since July 31, gave up five hits and three runs in six innings, including Jeff Kent’s two-run homer in the sixth.

St. Louis 10-0, New York 5-1--A day after hitting a home run in both games of a doubleheader, all Mark McGwire could muster was a run-scoring double in two games, as the Cardinals and Mets again split a doubleheader at New York.

After getting the pinch-hit double in a first-game victory, McGwire struck out three times and walked as the Cardinals lost the second game.

McGwire has 34 games remaining to reach Roger Maris’ record of 61. He has 51.

For only the ninth time in 128 games this season, McGwire wasn’t in the starting lineup for the opener.

Against Armando Reynoso (5-0) in the second game, he walked in the first inning, struck out swinging in the third and took called third strikes in the fifth and seventh. The walk was McGwire’s major league-leading 134th, leaving him 36 short of the record Babe Ruth set in 1923.

Reynoso won his fifth consecutive start since coming off the disabled list, giving up three hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts and six walks.

Edgardo Alfonzo’s 10th homer came in the first inning against Manny Aybar (3-7), who was activated between games. Aybar, in the minors since July 14, gave up three hits in five innings.

In the opener, Matt Morris (4-3) gave up two runs and six hits over seven innings and hit a tiebreaking single.

Hideo Nomo (5-11) lost his third consecutive start, giving up five runs and five hits in five-plus innings.

Philadelphia 1, Arizona 0--A night after Curt Schilling dominated the Diamondbacks with 14 strikeouts, Mark Portugal gave up only five hits in 7 1/3 innings at Philadelphia for his 100th career victory.

All five hits Portugal (8-3) gave up were singles. He struck out six and improved to 100-81 lifetime.

It wasn’t all good news for Portugal, however.

In the eighth, he injured his left ankle tagging out Andy Fox at first after a single. He stayed in the game for one more batter and walked Bernard Gilkey.

Wayne Gomes ended the inning and pitched the ninth for his first major league save.

Pittsburgh 14, Cincinnati 2--The Pirates had their best night at the plate all season, as Jason Kendall and Al Martin led a 17-hit attack with two-run homers at Pittsburgh.

It was the Pirates’ fifth consecutive victory. They have reached double figures in hits in seven of the last eight games and have hit 16 home runs in 11 games.

Chris Peters (7-8) pitched the first seven innings to win his third consecutive decision. He gave up six hits and two runs with one walk and four strikeouts.

Along with Kendall and Martin’s blasts, Tony Womack drove in three runs and Kevin Young went three for five for the Pirates.

Colorado 3, Montreal 2--Vinny Castilla hit his 37th homer with two out in the top of the ninth off Ugueth Urbina, lifting the Rockies past the Expos.

It was the Expos’ ninth loss in 11 games.

Dave Veres (1-1) got four outs for the victory as the Rockies won their sixth consecutive game over the Expos.

Rockies starter Jamey Wright gave up only an unearned run while pitching seven innings of four-hit ball. He struck out three and walked two.

Houston 5, Milwaukee 2--Jeff Bagwell scored three times, the difference for the Astros as they won at Milwaukee.

Richard Hidalgo added a two-run homer as the NL Central-leading Astros won for the 15th time in 21 games. They took the season series against the Brewers, 7-2.

Sean Bergman (11-6), who had two no-decisions and a loss in his last three starts, gave up seven hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings for the victory.