Sosa Saves Chicago In Bottom Of Ninth

National League

For the second time in three days, Sammy Sosa hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the host Chicago Cubs over the New York Mets 5-4 Sunday.

Sosa broke a window in a building across Waveland Avenue, beyond the left-field bleachers, with his leadoff homer in the ninth. His shot, on a 3-1 pitch from Jerry DiPoto (1-1), was his second home run of the game.

On Friday, Sosa hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Paul Wilson rallying the Cubs to a 4-2 win. Sosa had been in an 0-for-18 slump, and had struck out 16 times in his previous 28 at-bats, when he connected.

Sunday, Sosa’s 18th career two-homer game made a winner of Turk Wendell (3-0). Wendell pitched two innings of two-hit relief.

Sosa hit a two-run homer over the left-field bleachers in the first for a 2-1 lead.

Reds 12, Giants 6

San Francisco

Eric Davis became the 18th player in major league history to hit a grand slam home run in consecutive games as Cincinnati beat San Francisco.

Barry Larkin and Thomas Howard hit two-run homers and John Smiley settled down after two rocky innings as the Reds completed a three-game sweep. The Reds have won three straight after a streak of nine consecutive losses.

Davis, who hit a grand slam in the seventh inning of Cincinnati’s 9-7 win on Saturday, gave the Reds a 10-3 lead with his seventh-inning slam on Sunday. He also had an RBI double in the fourth inning.

Braves 11, Phillies 8

Atlanta

David Justice homered twice and drove in four runs, and John Smoltz won his sixth straight decision as Atlanta beat Philadelphia.

Fred McGriff went 4 for 4 with a home run and a triple, and Ryan Klesko hit his 12th homer for the Braves. Eduardo Perez had three of Atlanta’s 18 hits and drove in two runs.

Smoltz (6-1) retired the first 14 batters before Pete Incaviglia homered, and the Braves led 9-1 after five innings.

Rockies 5, Marlins 4

Denver

Dante Bichette singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning, and Colorado beat Florida for its fourth straight victory.

The Marlins, who tied the game at 4 on Jeff Conine’s two-out, two-run homer in the top of the ninth, lost their fifth in a row. The Rockies swept Florida for the second time since the two expansion teams entered the league in 1993.

Pirates 4, Dodgers 2

Pittsburgh

Charlie Hayes made up for a two-run error by driving home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, giving Pittsburgh the win over Los Angeles.

The Pirates won for the fourth time in five games. Shortstop Greg Gagne’s throwing error set up Hayes’ key single as the Dodgers dropped to 5-12 on the road.

Padres 10, Cardinals 4

San Diego

Wally Joyner hit a two-run homer that helped chase Alan Benes after two innings and San Diego beat St. Louis, avoiding its first three-game losing streak this season.

Joey Hamilton (6-1) won his third straight start, allowing four runs and five hits in seven innings, including Brian Jordan’s two-run homer in the sixth. He struck out four and walked two.

Expos 5, Astros 0

Houston

Henry Rodriguez homered for the second straight day and drove in another run with a double as Montreal took advantage of three errors to beat Houston.

The Astros’ errors, all in the first four innings, led to three unearned runs as Montreal took a 4-0 lead.

Clearing the bases

Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg made his first error in 24 games in the ninth… . Colorado’s Walt Weiss stole home against Florida, the fifth such steal in club history… . The Expos have outscored their opponents 99-55 from the sixth inning on and 39-10 in the sixth inning alone.