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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Kerry Wood's arm is fine but something is wrong.
Wood avoided a loss Friday, thanks to Sammy Sosa's tiebreaking,
three-run triple that led the Chicago Cubs to a 9-8 victory over
the Montreal Expos.
|  | | Sammy Sosa crosses home plate safely after a Mark Grace hit as Expos catcher Chris Widger tries to make the play during the first inning Friday. |
But Wood's performance -- five runs, four hits and five walks
over four innings -- prompted him to make an early exit from the
clubhouse after the game.
"His arm's fine. His confidence is not there," Cubs manager
Don Baylor said of the right-hander, who is coming back from
reconstructive elbow surgery. "He missed a year. It's no different
than a hitter who's 1-for-30."
The 1998 National League Rookie of the Year is winless in three
starts since May 28.
"I don't think the confidence is a problem," said teammate
Mark Grace. "He's coming back from an injury and this is like
spring training. His stuff is still good."
Wood, who celebrated his 23rd birthday Friday, is 2-4 with a
6.07 ERA and has walked 34 in 46 innings.
"Now, I think he's trying to prove too much. He's trying to
make perfect pitches but he doesn't have to," Sosa said. "He only
has to relax and don't try to overthrow and be Superman."
Cubs catcher Jeff Reed said Wood didn't seem right in the
bullpen because "he just didn't have a feel for his breaking
pitches."
"He needs the Astros to come into town," Grace said, referring
to the team Wood struck out 20 against two years ago and beat 11-1
on May 2 in his 2000 debut.
Sosa's triple came on the 11th anniversary of his major league
debut and gave him 1,002 career RBIs.
The subject of trade rumors for the last 10 days, Sosa tripled
into the right-field corner off Guillermo Mota to put Chicago ahead
8-5 in a seven-run fourth inning.
Rondell White went 4-for-5 with two home runs for Montreal,
raising his career total to 100. Vladimir Guerrero drove in three
runs with his 20th homer, a two-run shot, and an RBI triple.
"One hundred home runs is pretty good," White said. "I might
have gotten there sooner if I hadn't gotten hurt."
White's three-run homer in the first cleared the left-field
bleachers, bounced onto Waveland Avenue and into an open
second-floor window of a three-story apartment building. He added a
solo shot in the seventh.
"When you get a guy who throws as hard as Wood and a guy who
swings as hard as White, anything can happen," Reed said.
Todd Van Poppel (2-2) won despite allowing three runs and four
hits in three innings, and Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect ninth,
retiring Jose Vidro, White and Guerrero, for his 14th save in 18
chances.
Aguilera has not allowed an earned run in his last nine outings,
and has converted his last eight save chances.
"I'm taking it one day at a time," Aguilera said. "Tomorrow,
it can all go bad."
Tony Armas Jr. (2-4) gave up six runs, four walks and two walks
in 3 1-3 innings.
After White's first homer, Grace hit an RBI double in the bottom
half, but Guerrero's triple put Montreal ahead 4-1 in the third.
Wood walked the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth and hit
Vidro with a pitch, forcing in a run. Reed then picked off Vidro at
first.
"Vidro getting picked off, that was the turning point of the
whole game," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. "It took the
momentum from our bench and put it on their's. We could've scored
seven instead of them."
"It was a bad play," Vidro said. "I made a mistake and that
was the game."
Armas forced in a run by hitting Reed with a bases-loaded pitch,
Augie Ojeda blooped an RBI single over first baseman Lee Stevens,
pinch-hitter Gary Matthews Jr. greeted Mota with an RBI single and
Mota then walked Eric Young, forcing in the tying run. Sosa's first
triple of the season made it 8-5.
Guerrero homered in the fifth as Montreal closed within a run.
Willie Greene hit a solo homer in the bottom half, but White
homered in the seventh.
Game notes
Sosa hit two triples last year, his most recent on July 30.
He made his debut on June 16, 1989, with Texas and went 2-for-4
against the New York Yankees. ... Wood has walked 19 batters in his
last four starts, pitching 24 innings. ... White had his second
four-hit game of the season and sixth multihomer game, his first
since May 18, 1999, against Philadelphia. ... The seven run fourth
marked the most runs the Cubs scored in an inning this year.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
Chicago Cubs Clubhouse
Sosa downplays rumor that he wants to play for Red Sox
Red Sox reportedly get serious about Sosa sweepstakes
RECAPS
Boston 7
Toronto 4
Detroit 5
Cleveland 2
Chi. White Sox 3
NY Yankees 1
Tampa Bay 9
Texas 2
Baltimore 4
Anaheim 3
Oakland 8
Kansas City 3
Minnesota 7
Seattle 2
Chicago Cubs 9
Montreal 8
Florida 8
Pittsburgh 3
Philadelphia 2
Atlanta 1
NY Mets 7
Milwaukee 1
Arizona 0
Colorado 0
San Diego 8
Cincinnati 5
St. Louis 6
Los Angeles 3
San Francisco 7
Houston 4
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