Sosa Homers Cubs Past Brewers

Warren Spahn sent a three-hopper to the plate with the first pitch of the final opening day at County Stadium. The Milwaukee Brewers were even wilder, walking eight batters and hitting two more.

Bill Pulsipher (1-1) gave up five runs, five hits and three walks in three innings as the Milwaukee Brewers lost 9-4 to the Chicago Cubs in the final home opener at 46-year-old Milwaukee County Stadium, which gives way to Miller Park and its retractable roof in 2000.

The Cubs hit four home runs, including one by Sammy Sosa, who hit 12 of his 66 homers off Milwaukee last year. Gary Gaetti, Benito Santiago and Mickey Morandini also connected for the Cubs.

But the crowd of 55,770 the second-largest for a Brewers game at the ballpark braved a windy, cloudy day yet was treated nevertheless when the Brewers pulled a triple play in the seventh.

After Sosa, who went 4-for-4 with a walk, and Glenallen Hill singled to start the seventh, Santiago hit a sharp grounder off Eric Plunk down the left-field line.

Third baseman Jeff Cirillo fielded it, took one step to tag the bag and threw to second baseman Fernando Vina. Despite a wide throw, Vina turned and threw to first baseman Sean Berry to beat Santiago by two steps.

Pulsipher allowed three straight one-out singles in the first and Hill's bouncer off his left foot for what should have been a foul ball drove in the Cubs' first run on a groundout to third.

Gaetti led off the second with his first homer for a 2-0 lead, and following back-to-back two-out walks in the third, Santiago sent Pulsipher's first pitch into the left-field seats for a 5-0 lead.

Sosa made it 6-0 when he drove Al Reyes' 3-0 fastball into the same spot in the fifth for his second homer of the season.

After the Brewers pulled to 6-4 on Jeromy Burntiz's three-run shot and Mark Loretta's RBI double off starter Scott Sanders in the fifth, Morandini homered off Plunk in the eighth.

Chad Fox gave up an RBI double to Curtis Goodwin and walked in a run in the ninth.

Felix Heredia (1-0) picked up the victory with 1 2-3 innings of scoreless elief.

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