| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Cubs 3, Dodgers 1
Monday August 11, 2003LOS ANGELES (AP) Sammy Sosa overshadowed Mark Prior.
Sosa hit two mammoth homers off Kevin Brown, driving in all of the Chicago Cubs' runs in a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday.
The win was Dusty Baker's 900th as a major league manager and snapped the Dodgers' six-game winning streak.
``It was awesome to watch,'' said Prior, who pitched a five-hitter for his third complete game in 40 career starts. ``Some days, he's just locked in. He wants to prove what he really is, and he's doing it for us. It was just a big lift for me.''
Prior (10-5) threw 116 pitches in a game that lasted just 2 hours, 14 minutes. He struck out nine, walked one and lowered his ERA to 2.76 in 21 starts.
``I've been looking forward to this game all week. Kevin Brown's a great pitcher, and it's just an honor to be in the same game with him,'' Prior said. ``I was just trying to go out and have quality innings. I didn't expect to throw a complete game.''
The right-hander nearly came one out short. Baker went to the mound to check on him after he gave up a single to Shawn Green with his 110th pitch. But he let Prior continue, and he struck out Jeromy Burnitz for the third time to end it.
``I really didn't know what I was going to do when I went out there,'' Baker said. ``I wanted to look in his eyes and see if I saw fatigue or anything and I didn't. He said, `Hey, I feel good. It's my ballgame.' Then Damian Miller convinced me when he said, `He's throwing better now than he was before.'''
The last time a Cubs full-time starter finished a season with an ERA under 3.00 was 1992, when Greg Maddux finished at 2.18 in 35 starts and Mike Morgan finished at 2.55 in 34 starts.
``If I have an ERA under 3.00, so be it. It really doesn't matter,'' Prior said. ``I mean, whatever we do to get into the playoffs is the only thing I really care about.''
After Kenny Lofton opened the game with a single, Sosa drove a 1-2 pitch 465 feet three-quarters of the way up the right-field pavilion and into the last section of seats next to the center-field flag poles.
It nearly made him the fourth player to hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium since the ballpark opened in 1962. The three who have were Willie Stargell (twice), Mike Piazza and Mark McGwire.
Sosa connected again in the fourth, sending Brown's 1-0 delivery 448 feet right-center for his 28th homer this season and 527th of his career. He has 498 home runs in a Cubs uniform, 14 shy of Hall of Famer Ernie Banks' club record.
``No doubt about it, I made two bad pitches to Sammy and he took advantage of it,'' said Brown, who had not allowed a home run in his previous 80 1-3 consecutive innings before Sunday. ``That's what happens when you're facing a good hitter that's hot.''
Brown, who had allowed just five homers in his previous 144 innings this year, was charged with three runs and five hits over seven innings. He struck out seven as his ERA increased from 2.13 to 2.21.< ^Notes:@ Sosa, suspended for seven games in June for using a corked bat, is hitting .313 with 22 homers and 49 RBIs in 47 games since returning from his suspension. ... Cubs 1B Eric Karros was hitless in four at-bats and was 0-for-10 with three strikeouts in his first series against the Dodgers since getting traded to the Cubs in December. ... Sosa struck out looking in the ninth against Paul Quantrill, who has allowed just two homers in 135 innings during his two seasons with the Dodgers. ... Sosa was the first player to go deep against Brown since Colorado's Jose Hernandez on May 20 at Dodger Stadium.
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