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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Sammy Sosa spoke, and Corey Patterson listened.
|  | | Will Clark follows through on his fifth-inning grand slam Sunday -- his second of the season. |
Patterson hit an inside-the-park home run in the seventh inning
and the Chicago Cubs overcame Will Clark's grand slam and five RBI
to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5 Sunday.
Sosa talked to Patterson in the dugout after the rookie struck
out leading off the fourth.
"He told me things to think about. `Be smart, go the other
way,' " Patterson said. "He said don't worry about all the
strikeouts."
"I told him to give me an inside-the-park home run and he
did," Sosa said, laughing.
With one out in the seventh, Patterson hit an Alan Benes pitch
down the right-field line. The ball rolled under the padding along
the wall.
"When I hit the ball, I knew I definitely had a double,"
Patterson said. "J.D. Drew had trouble finding it and Gene (Glynn,
third base coach) waved me home."
"I fell down, and when I came up, it was gone," Drew said. "I
ran to where I thought it went, and I had no idea where it was. It
happened so fast. The right-field wall sticks out so far -- it's
like it got stuck in the ivy."
Patterson slid head-first and easily beat the throw for his
second home run, the Cubs' first inside-the-park homer since Sosa
did it at Pittsburgh on May 26, 1997. It was Chicago's first at
Wrigley Field since Ryne Sandberg against Atlanta's John Smoltz on
July 27, 1991.
"He has a lot of talent," Sosa said of Patterson, who could
not recall another inside-the-park homer, except maybe in Little
League. "Let him feel comfortable. He's our future."
Chicago trailed the NL Central champions 5-2 before a seven-run
sixth inning.
Jeff Reed and Willie Greene hit RBI singles off Pat Hentgen
(15-11) as the Cubs closed to 5-4, and Chad Meyers tied it with a
run-scoring single off Mike James.
After an intentional walk to Mark Grace loaded the bases, James
walked Roosevelt Brown unintentionally, forcing in the go-ahead
run.
Shane Andrews then hit a ball that scooted between third baseman
Fernando Tatis' legs and was ruled a hit, scoring Meyers and giving
Chicago a 7-5 lead. Jose Nieves hit a run-scoring grounder, and
another run scored on an error by Clark at first.
Todd Van Poppel (4-5), making his second start and 51st
appearance this year, gave up five runs and eight hits in six
innings as the Cubs won for only the fourth time in 23 games. Van
Poppel got his first win as a starter since July 22, 1998.
Van Poppel walked off the mound after his second pitch to
Fernando Vina in the third because of back pain. He was examined by
Cubs trainer Steve Melendez, threw a couple times off the mound and
stayed in the game for his longest outing this year.
"He felt a sharp pain, but he didn't want to come out of the
game," Baylor said.
Felix Heredia pitched three innings for his second save in five
chances, striking out three, including pinch-hitter Mark McGwire
leading off the ninth.
Hentgen gave up six runs and eight hits in five-plus innings,
losing for the first time in five September starts.
"It's not something to walk into the middle of traffic about.
We're a good club," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said after his
team dropped to 16-7 in September.
Clark hit an RBI single in the first, but the Cubs went ahead in
the fourth on Andrews' RBI single and Damon Buford's sacrifice fly.
Clark hit his second slam of the season, the fifth of his
career, for a 5-2 lead in the fifth. It was the 226th homer off
Cubs pitchers, five more than the previous record, set last year.
"Clark's a good hitter. Hopefully, we're not in the same league
next year," Van Poppel said.
Clark has 10 homers and 35 RBI in 45 games with the Cardinals
after hitting nine homers and driving in 28 runs in 79 games with
Baltimore, which traded him July 31.
"I don't know what the future brings," Clark said, "but for
now, I'm enjoying it. It's worked out pretty good."
Game notes
Clark's other grand slam was July 20 in the first game of a
doubleheader against Boston. ... Sosa missed his fifth straight
game because of a muscle strain in his lower back. ... Robert Wuhl,
star of the TV show "Arli$$," led the crowd in the seventh-inning
stretch. He also took part in pregame warmups, throwing the ball
around the infield from first base.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Chicago Cubs Clubhouse
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Baltimore 1
Boston 0
NY Yankees 6
Detroit 3
Tampa Bay 6
Toronto 0
Kansas City 9
Cleveland 0
Minnesota 6
Chi. White Sox 5
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Texas 2
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Chicago Cubs 10
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Florida 3
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San Francisco 3
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San Diego 0
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