CHICAGO (AP) -- With Sammy Sosa at the plate and runners at the corners, Sean Lowe moved slightly toward third and then fired to first, catching Mark Grace off the bag.

Pickoff.

Or was it?

	Sammy Sosa flings his bat after striking out to end the sixth inning. Sosa was 0-for-4 with three Ks.

"First and foremost, you cannot get picked off in that situation," Grace said. "But I think he got away with one."

It doesn't really matter, though. Lowe was credited with an out, not a balk on the key eighth-inning play. The inning was over, the rally was done and the Chicago White Sox escaped with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon.

Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer, and Carlos Lee and Herbert Perry drove in the other runs for the White Sox, who won their sixth in a row.

"It was a heck of a call," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "Sean Lowe led the league in pickoffs (six) last year. He's got one of the best right-hand moves in the game."

The Cubs had closed to 4-3 in the eighth when Augie Ojeda scored on Grace's force-play grounder. Lowe tried his move to third once but Grace didn't bite.

So Lowe came right back and tried it again. This time, Grace got caught.

"The book says you have to step toward third. He did that," White Sox bench coach Joe Nossek said. "It was legitimate. If they say he didn't, it might be frustration on their part."

The Cubs brought a three-game winning streak to the South Side and are now one game away from being swept for the second time in as many years by their crosstown rivals. The White Sox took all three at Wrigley Field last year.

And the Cubs' problems go far beyond Lowe's pickoff-that-might-have-been-a-balk. Their only offense came from Grace, who homered in the sixth inning for the first time since coming back from the disabled list June 1.

Sosa, who had a much-publicized blowup with Cubs manager Don Baylor earlier in the week, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He's struck out a whopping eight times so far in the series.

Kerry Wood (2-4) struggled with his control again, walking a season-high seven and giving up four runs in six innings. Of the 117 pitches he threw, 57 were balls.

Mike Sirotka (5-5) gave up three runs and six hits in seven-plus innings. Keith Foulke pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances.

"I didn't have any breaking stuff today. I don't know if I threw any breaking stuff for a swinging strike," Wood said. "It's got to come to an end sometime shortly or he might stop giving me the ball."

That probably isn't going to happen. The 1998 NL Rookie of the Year was making only his seventh start since returning from reconstructive elbow surgery, and outings like these are going to happen.

That doesn't make it any easier to take, though.

"It's frustrating to go out there," said Wood, who gave up three hits and struck out five. "I know I can get guys out and it's just not happening yet."

Wood set up Ordonez's two-run homer in the first with a walk to Jose Valentin, the second batter he faced.

He walked three straight in the fourth, loading the bases with only one out, but struck out Lee and Perry to get out of the jam.

He got a little loose again in the sixth. After striking out Frank Thomas, Wood walked Ordonez and gave up a double to Paul Konerko. He then walked Chris Singleton to load the bases. Lee singled through the hole at short to drive in a run, and Perry hit a sacrifice fly to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead.

Wood finally got out of the inning when Brook Fordyce grounded out.

"It doesn't feel any different mechanically," Wood said. "I've got to go out and start throwing strikes."

Game notes
The victory put the White Sox 14 games above .500 (37-23) for the first time since Aug. 13, 1996. ... The White Sox homered for a 14th straight game, two shy of the club record set in 1987. ... Commissioner Bud Selig, who lives just a short drive away in Milwaukee, made the trip to watch the crosstown series. ... Despite catching all of Friday night's game, Cubs catcher Joe Girardi was back in the lineup Saturday. "I knew I was going," he said before the game. "I can rest Monday. And I will."