Sosa Wins Game In 10th

Hold on to those spots on the sidewalk, folks, and don't go changing those number signs just yet. No. 60 will have to wait for another day and that's quite all right with Sammy Sosa.

For the second day in a row, Sosa got a game-winning RBI instead of that elusive, record-setting 60th home run.

"I'll take that anytime," Sosa said Friday after his sacrifice fly to left in the 10th inning gave the Chicago Cubs a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. He hit a game-winning, two-run double in the ninth inning Thursday night in Cincinnati.

Sosa, who finished 0-for-3, has gone seven games without a home run, his longest power outage since a seven-game stretch from July 5-11. But he doesn't really care, not when the Cubs have won consecutive games for the first time since July 20-22, when they won three in a row.

"I'm not panicked," Sosa said. "There's still a long way to go."

He gave the crowd half a thrill in the fifth inning, when he sent a ball flying toward right field. Fans already were on their feet and roaring, but the wind off Lake Michigan held the ball up and it dropped to Jeromy Burnitz for the easy out.

After he walked to lead off the eighth inning, fans started streaming out of the ball park even though the game was tied. But Sosa rewarded the fans who stuck around until the end.

With Jose Molina on first, Roosevelt Brown's bunt hit home plate and skipped over third baseman Jeff Cirillo's head. Pitcher Kyle Peterson's throw went way over th head of second baseman Ron Belliard, who was covering first.

Molina went all the way to third, and Brown to second on the error.

"I grabbed it weird, like a split-finger pitch," Peterson said. "I make no excuses. It had nothing to do with anything else on the play. I just threw it away."

With Sosa in the on-deck circle, the Brewers held a brief conference on the mound. With Mark Grace up next and only one out, the Brewers couldn't afford to walk Sosa. Throw anything you want, manager Jim Lefebvre told Peterson, just don't give him anything to hit.

Peterson didn't, working the count to 3-1 and throwing a high slider on the fifth pitch. It didn't matter. Sosa swung, sending the ball deep into left field for the sacrifice fly.

"I'm happy he's helping us win games in other ways," Grace said. "No. 60 is going to happen. He's getting decent swings. They're just not going out of the ball park."

Rick Aguilera (5-3) gave up one hit in one inning. Peterson (1-6) gave up one unearned run and one hit in two-thirds of an inning.

Sosa is 6-for-31 (.194) since hitting No. 59 on Sept. 9. He still has a four-homer lead on Mark McGwire, whose St. Louis Cardinals played host to Houston on Friday night.

This homestand seems like the perfect setting for Sosa to become the first player ever to hit 60 home runs twice. He's back at Wrigley Field, where he's hit 31 home runs this season, and he's facing the Brewers, who usually look like they're throwing batting practice when it comes to Sosa.

He hit 12 homers off the Brewers last season, the most against any team, including Nos. 60, 61 and 62. He has four against Milwaukee this season.

But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, Sosa said.

"Everyone expects me to hit a home run," he said. "It's not easy. You've got to go out and earn it. You've got to wait for a mistake. If I don't hit any more, I'll be happy."

Especially if the Cubs keep winning.

Shane Andrews hit a solo home run and drove in another run for the Cubs, and Brown, Jeff Reed and Mickey Morandini all had RBIs.

The Cubs wouldn't have needed Sosa's heroics if they hadn't blown a three-run lead in the seventh. Marquis Grissom led off with a solo home run, his 17th of the season, off reliever Bobby Ayala, Belliard hit a sacrifice fly and the Brewers tied it at 5 when Burnitz scored on reliever Terry Adams' throwing error.

Cirillo also had a solo hoer, and Banks had an RBI single for the Brewers.

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