Sosa Goes Deep In Cubs Win

May 20, 1999 / 9:48 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Greg Maddux figured he gave up too much, too early.

He was right.

Sammy Sosa homered again, connecting against the struggling Maddux, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 in 12 innings Thursday night.

Lance Johnson's sacrifice fly in the 12th gave the Cubs their fourth straight victory. Atlanta, which had won four in a row, sent the game into extra innings on Gerald Williams' solo homer in the ninth.

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"I just put us in too big a hole to start the game off," said Maddux, who was behind 5-0 in the third inning.

"It takes a lot out of a team to go out there and give up runs like that early. It just makes it hard to battle back," he said.

Sosa hit his fourth home run in four games, and ninth in 15 games. His solo shot in the first inning was his 13th homer of the season.

"Anytime you face a guy like Greg Maddux and win a game like that, you have to feel good," said Sosa.

Maddux was spared losing his fourth straight start, something he has not done since a career-worst eight-game losing streak in 1990. Still, the four-time Cy Young winner was stuck with a 5.02 ERA.

"It's the same guy I've seen, nothing has changed," said Sosa. "He'll be all right."

Maddux gave up eight hits including consecutive homers by Sosa and Mark Grace in the first inning and before getting an out in the fourth inning. Overall, he allowed five runs and nine hits in seven innings.

Incredibly, Maddux has given up a major league-high 88 hits in 57 1-3 innings. Opponents are batting .351 against him, worst in the NL.

"I've felt fine every time I've gone out there this year, totally fine," he said.

After starting the season 4-0 for the first time in his career, Maddux has given up 22 runs and 45 hits in his last four starts, a span of 24 1-3 innings.

Down 5-0, the Braves rallied against Steve Trachsel and the Chicago bullpen. Williams homered with one out in the ninth against Scott Sanders the Cubs' 10th blown save in 21 chances.

Benito Santiago opened the Cubs 12th with a single and took third when relieer Kevin McGlinchy (2-1) threw Curtis Goodwin's sacrifice bunt over the head of second baseman Bret Boone covering first.

Johnson then followed with his fly ball to medium left field and Santiago barely beat Williams' throw home.

Dan Serafini (1-0) pitched 2 1-3 innings of scoreless relief for his first NL victory.

Grace had an RBI double and Henry Rodriguez had a two-run, bloop single in the third, giving Chicago a 5-0 lead.

Walt Weiss hit an RBI double in the Braves third. Atlanta scored three more times in the sixth off Trachsel on a two-run double by Brian Jordan and a double by Ryan Klesko.

Trachsel, who beat the Braves with a six-hitter Saturday, gave up four runs in five-plus innings.

Notes: Cubs first base coach Dan Radison was ejected before the start of the 10th inning by umpire Bruce Dreckman for arguing some ball and strikes calls. ... Braves rookie Bruce Chen, who is scheduled to be recalled from Richmond on Friday and start against the Cubs, arrived in Atlanta on Thursday night. ... Sosa hit two home runs on Monday night, none on Tuesday night and another on Wednesday at Florida.