Glenallen Hill, Cubs Slam Giants

The San Francisco Giants probably wish Glenallen Hill was still on their team.

Hill, pinch hitting for pitcher Kevin Tapani, hit a grand slam Thursday as the Chicago Cubs beat the Giants 7-3. It was the third homer of the year for Hill and the fifth grand slam of his career.

"To me, the opponent has no face. I don't buy into this `old team' stuff," said Hill, who spent three seasons in San Francisco. "I was looking to make contact. I didn't want to strike out and I got a big hit."

The Cubs came into the game trailing the New York Mets by a game in the NL wild-card race. San Francisco began the day 21/2 games behind.

Tapani (15-7) gave up four hits and three runs -- including two homers -- in five innings. He also struck out five and walked three. The Cubs shelled Russ Ortiz (1-3) for seven hits and five runs over 4 2/3 innings. He also walked four and struck out five.

Sammy Sosa was quiet a day after hitting his 48th home run, going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

"Sammy's carried us," manager Jim Riggleman said. "Today, we got big at-bats by a lot of people. We'll use Sammy tomorrow."

Lanc Johnson and Jeff Blauser hit RBI singles in the fourth inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead, but San Francisco came back with a three-run fifth. Brent Mayne led off with a double, moving to third and scoring on fielder's choices. Bill Mueller and Barry Bonds then hit consecutive homers.

It was Bonds' 25th homer of the year and 399th of his career. He needs one more to become the first player in major-league history to hit 400 home runs and steal 400 bases. Bonds refused to comment after the game.

After Mark Grace struck out to start the Cubs' fifth, Henry Rodriguez and Jose Hernandez singled. The Giants got Hernandez on a fielder's choice that put Tyler Houston on base, and Ortiz loaded the bases when he hit Blauser with a pitch.

Tapani, batting only .161, was pulled in favor of Hill, who is a career .323 pinch hitter. That prompted manager Dusty Baker to replace Ortiz with right-hander Julian Tavarez.

"How

But after working the count to 3-2, Tavarez threw a fastball that Hill put over the left-field fence.

"It was two outs, a 3-2 count. What choice did I have?" Tavarez said. "I'm not going to walk him. I'm going to make him swing. It was a good at-bat for him."

The crowd of 37,803 yelled with a fervor usually reserved for Sosa's homers. The ovation continued even after Hill returned to the dugout, and he waved to the crowd before isappearing down the steps.

"It feels good when you don't start and you come off the bench and have an effect," Hill said. "(Pinch hitting) is all or nothing, so every time you come through, it's another notch in your belt."

The Cubs got one more run in the eighth on an RBI single from Grace. Gary Gaetti, who signed with the Cubs on Wednesday, struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.

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