| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- The hits keep coming for the Arizona
Diamondbacks, early and often.
Arizona tied a franchise record with eight runs in the third
inning and gave Jon Lieber his first loss in 11 starts Saturday
night as the Diamondbacks pounded the Chicago Cubs 11-3 for their
sixth victory in a row.
|  | | Sammy Sosa signals after hitting No. 41 -- a two-run shot in the sixth inning Saturday. |
Sammy Sosa hit his major league-leading 41st home run, and third
in two nights, for the Cubs.
Arizona has outscored the Cubs 22-5 in the first two games of
the three-game series to stay 1½ games behind first-place San
Francisco in the NL West. All but one of Chicago's runs have come
on Sosa's homers.
"We've been swinging the bat great these last seven or eight
games," said Damian Miller, who had a three-run homer and an RBI
single. "To string hits together like we have been, we're going to
score some runs. We've got a pretty potent lineup."
The Diamondbacks, on their second-longest winning streak of the
season, had a club-record eight hits in the third, including a
two-run homer by Steve Finley and two-run double by Luis Gonzalez.
"There were a lot of good at-bats," manager Buck Showalter
said. "A lot of good things happened tonight. We'll sleep fast and
try to do it again tomorrow."
The Diamondbacks will send Randy Johnson to the mound Sunday to
try to complete the sweep.
Gonzalez was 3-for-5, including a triple, to extend his hitting
streak to 12 games.
Sosa hit a two-run homer in the sixth. The Cubs have lost seven
of eight and have scored more than three runs only twice during
that stretch.
"Hopefully we can come back tomorrow with a different attitude
and play better," Sosa said. "Their pitching has been hurting us.
They've been pitching us very well. We've got to be ready tomorrow
for the type of pitcher that he is. Hopefully we'll come back
tomorrow and wake up."
The Diamondbacks led 9-0 after three innings of Friday night's
11-2 victory and were up 11-1 after three innings Saturday night.
"It's demoralizing when they score eight runs in the third,"
Cubs manager Don Baylor said. "Part of your lineup hasn't even hit
once and you're already out of the ballgame."
Lieber (11-6) was 6-0 in his last 10 starts and hadn't lost
since June 23. In 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season,
he allowed nine runs on 10 hits, struck out two, walked two and hit
a batter.
"Everything was the same as last night," Baylor said. "He
didn't have a breaking ball at all. Like (Ruben) Quevedo, it's like
throwing batting practice."
Brian Anderson (10-5) earned just his second victory in 10
starts. He allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He
struck out two and didn't walk a batter.
Already leading 3-1 on Miller's 10th home run of the season, the
Diamondbacks sent 11 batters to the plate in the third.
Finley had two hits in the inning, a leadoff single and his 30th
home run of the year. Gonzalez doubled in two more, Miller, Matt
Williams and Tony Womack had RBI singles and Craig Counsell drove
in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the second on Jose Nieves' RBI
single.
Game notes
Todd Stottlemyre pitched three innings of a simulated game
Saturday and is on target to return to the Diamondbacks' rotation
Sept. 2 or 3. He is to have two rehabilitation starts in the minors
before then. ... Lieber is 0-4 lifetime against the Diamondbacks.
... Womack has tied his career high with 50 RBI. ... The crowd of
47,404 was the third sellout of the season at Bank One Ballpark.
... David Dellucci was 2-for-4 for Arizona in his first start since
being recalled from Triple-A Tucson. ... Sosa tied Norm Cash for
No. 45 on the career homer list with 377.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chicago Cubs Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 10
Seattle 4
NY Yankees 9
Anaheim 1
Boston 9
Texas 0
Minnesota 5
Toronto 1
Detroit 4
Oakland 3
Kansas City 7
Baltimore 0
Chi. White Sox 7
Tampa Bay 0
Cincinnati 7
Pittsburgh 1
Los Angeles 4
NY Mets 1
San Francisco 12
Atlanta 3
Colorado 10
Florida 3
Houston 10
Milwaukee 8
St. Louis 6
Philadelphia 3
Arizona 11
Chicago Cubs 3
San Diego 4
Montreal 3
|
