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Friday, May 19 3:20pm ET
Sosa takes out frustrations on Cincinnati | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Maybe Sammy Sosa's best swings came two days earlier, when he unleashed frustration by smashing a metal table in the Chicago Cubs' clubhouse to pieces with his bat. Was there a carryover after Sosa's uncommon display of emotion on Wednesday? No one knows but the struggling Cubs did show some life Friday, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 in Ken Griffey Jr.'s first regular-season game at Wrigley. Sosa, who needed 40 whacks to demolish the table, kept swinging Friday. This time it came from the plate as he delivered a two-run, first-inning double to help Ismael Valdes get his first victory for the Cubs. "I got tired of losing and sometimes I got to let go," Sosa said, explaining his outburst after the Dodgers won Wednesday's game with three runs in the ninth inning. "You got to let your teammates know how you feel," Sosa said. "It's not about smiling and hitting home runs or having a great day. It was time for me to act because they had never seen me the way I was. Hopefully I won't have to do it again. If I have to do it again, I will." Griffey went 0-for-3 and didn't get the ball out of the infield Friday on a wintry day at Wrigley. The game-time temperature was 48 degrees, and a 17 mph northeasterly wind created a wind chill in the low 30s. "There's a lot of tradition out there, a lot of good players have been on this field," Griffey said. "I just want to go out there and play basball." Griffey drew a two-out walk with runners at first and second in the eighth to load the bases and finish Valdes. Todd Van Poppel then got Dmitri Young to hit a hopper to short and he was called out on a close play at first. Young thought he was safe. Replays were inconclusive. "Why can't they get in the proper position to make the correct call?" Young asked. Van Poppel also pitched the ninth for his first save of the season and the second of his career as maybe the Cubs' inept bullpen may have found a closer. Valdes (1-1) got hit first victory since last Aug. 27 when he beat the Cubs while with Los Angeles. He allowed five hits and a run in 7 2/3 innings, leaving after a blister on his pitching hand popped following 125 pitches. He was helped by a strong wind blowing in that knocked down two long drives by Dante Bichette. "It was a good day to pitch. When you warm up, you go, `It's so cold,"' Valdes said. "Once you get your rhythm, you get warm. You get more comfortable against right-handed hitters. They can hit it as hard as they want and 99.9 percent of the time, it won't go out." Sosa hit a two-run double down the third-base line in the first off Steve Parris (2-6). The Cubs made it 4-0 in the second on Julio Zuleta's double, Damon Buford's single, a sacrifice, run-scoring grounder by Eric Young and RBI double by Ricky Gutierrez. Young hit a solo homer, his fifth of the season, leading off the seventh. Sosa finished 1-for-3 and hit one fly ball to the warning track. Notes: It was the 30th time Griffey and Sosa played in the same game, including 26 times when they were both in the AL. In those 30 games, they've each homered three times. In their meeting earlier this season at Cinergy Field, Sosa homered twice in the three-game series and Griffey once.... Griffey has played in Wrigley Field before, in the 1990 All-Star game. ... The loss was just the third in the last 12 games for the Reds. ... Announced attendance was 37,199, despite the conditions. ... Van Poppel's previous save came on July 18, 1996 against Texas when he was pitching for Oakland. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cincinnati Clubhouse Chicago Cubs Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 3 Detroit 0
Chicago Cubs 4
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