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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Tony McKnight was a little nervous about pitching
at Wrigley Field after watching his Houston teammates slug seven
home runs a day earlier.
Good thing for McKnight that Richard Hidalgo saved something for
Sunday.
|  | | Houston's Richard Hidalgo, left, hit two home runs for the second straight day against the Cubs, giving him 37 this season. |
Sammy Sosa hit his major league-leading 48th home run but
Hidalgo hit a pair for the second straight day to lead the Astros
to a 7-6 victory Sunday over the Chicago Cubs.
"The entire homestand has been a home run haven for the other
team and not us," said Cubs manager Don Baylor, whose team lost
for the ninth time in the last 10 games. "We were outhomered in
our ballpark with the wind blowing out."
Sosa hit a two-run shot with one out in the first and is closing
in on his third consecutive 50-homer season. Sosa leads the NL with
132 RBI.
"I've got to continue to do my job," Sosa said. "I've got to
play for pride."
Hidalgo led off the second and sixth innings with home runs,
both off Jon Lieber (12-9), for his fourth career two-homer game
and third this year.
"He hits it out everywhere," Houston manager Larry Dierker
said. "He's got raw power. He doesn't have the kind of opposite-field power that (Jeff) Bagwell or Sosa has but anywhere from
center field over toward left, he's got plenty to get it out
anywhere."
Hidalgo went 8-for-13 in the series, including his two home runs
in Saturday's club-record seven-homer attack, and has a 12-game
hitting streak. He has 37 homers on the season.
"You just try to concentrate on home plate, see the ball and
try to hit it hard," Hidalgo said.
Sounds simple.
McKnight (2-1), making his third career start, gave up three
runs on eight hits and one walk in seven innings. He struck out
six.
"I had a few butterflies, especially being in Wrigley Field and
the Cubs having the kind of hitters that they have," McKnight
said. "I just tried to be more aggressive and not try to make Hall
of Fame pitches. You can't get any outs unless you make them swing,
so I was just trying to make good pitches out over the plate."
"One thing he showed me was that he wasn't afraid to pitch in a
hitters park on the road or to pitch to Sosa," Dierker said.
Julio Lugo hit a two-run homer, his eighth, as the Astros won
their sixth straight game. Houston, which hit 12 homers in the
three-game series, leads the NL with 223 home runs.
Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 16 chances.
He allowed a two-out RBI single to Mark Grace before retiring Julio
Zuleta with two runners on to end it.
Lieber lost for the fourth time in his last five starts, giving
up seven runs and nine hits in seven innings. He struck out 10.
"I felt great," Lieber said. "The bottom line is, that team
is hot. They did an outstanding job attacking us."
The Astros, who won their eighth series in the last nine, posted
their first three-game sweep at Wrigley Field since Aug. 22-24,
1998.
Roger Cedeno, who went 3-for-3, singled to open the Houston
first and Lugo hit the first pitch he saw for a home run.
Sosa answered in the bottom of the inning with his homer to tie
the game at 2.
Hidalgo's first homer made it 3-2, but Lieber hit an RBI single
with one out in the second to tie it at 3.
With runners at first and second and one out in the Astros
third, Mitch Meluskey hit an RBI single and Moises Alou had an RBI
groundout.
Bagwell added an RBI single in the Astros fifth.
After Hidalgo's second homer made it 7-3, Chicago's Jose Nieves
hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Marc Valdes.
Game notes
Sosa has 177 hits. Only three players have reached 50
homers and 200 hits in a season: the Yankees' Babe Ruth in 1921,
the Cubs' Hack Wilson in 1930 and the Athletics' Jimmie Foxx in
1932. ... Cubs 2B Eric Young stole his 50th base in the second, the
third time in his career he has reached that figure. He has been
successful in his last 24 attempts. ... McKnight was 4-8 with a
4.56 ERA in 19 starts for Triple-A New Orleans. ... Cedeno left
after six innings with flulike symptoms.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Chicago Cubs Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 6
Boston 2
Chi. White Sox 0
Cleveland 0
Toronto 6
Detroit 2
Kansas City 13
Texas 8
Oakland 11
Tampa Bay 0
Seattle 8
Minnesota 1
Anaheim 2
Baltimore 1
Montreal 4
Atlanta 0
NY Mets 3
Philadelphia 0
Cincinnati 6
Pittsburgh 4
Milwaukee 4
St. Louis 3
Houston 7
Chicago Cubs 6
Los Angeles 12
Colorado 1
Florida 4
Arizona 3
San Francisco 10
San Diego 2
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