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Wednesday, Jul. 26 7:35pm ET
Sosa smacks 30th, 31st home runs | |||||
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GAME LOG
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Life without Curt Schilling began the same as it had with him for the Philadelphia Phillies. Mark Grace hit a grand slam in the ninth and Sammy Sosa capped the six-run inning with his second homer as the Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies 14-9 Wednesday night on a day when Philadelphia traded it's ace right-hander. Grace went 4-for-5 with a career-high six RBI, Sosa belted his 30th and 31st homers and Chicago scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk off Paul Byrd (2-9). The Cubs have won a season-high five straight games. "He threw me a change. It was right there. I can still hit them," Grace said about the slam. Before the game, Schilling, the subject of trade rumors for three seasons, was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks for first baseman-outfielder Travis Lee and pitchers Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa. "I'm not sure how I feel," Phillies manager Terry Francona said about the deal. "If anybody appreciates how good he's been, it's me. I understand it. I hope it turns out to be the best thing that's ever happened to the Phillies." The Phillies, who went 22-48 when Schilling was on the disabled list the last two seasons, haven't fared much better with him. Philadelphia has lost four of five, and has been in last place in the NL East all season. The Phillies haven't finished above .500 since 1993, when Schilling won 16 games and helped lead them to the World Series. Schilling's strong desire to be traded to a contender, coupled with his contract status -- he'll be a free agent after the 2001 season -- forced the Phillies to shop him. General manager Ed Wade said he was reluctant to trade the workhorse. Without their ace, the Phillies quickly fell behind Chicago 4-0 in the second inning of a game delayed three times by rain. But after a 29-minute rain delay in the eighth, pinch-hitter Brian Hunter tied it at 8 with a three-run homer off Todd Van Poppel. Felix Heredia (6-3) retired Bobby Abreu with two runners on to end the inning. "We thought we were going to win the game (after Hunter's homer)," Francona said. "It makes it all worth it, staying here, going through the delays when he hits that." In the ninth, shortstop Desi Relaford's 23rd error, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases before Byrd walked Ricky Gutierrez to give the Cubs a 9-8 lead. Grace followed with his second career slam and Sosa's shot to left gave him 42 multihomer games in his career and second this season. Sosa belted his 30th homer -- a three-run shot -- to give Chicago an 8-3 lead after the second rain delay, which lasted 82 minutes. The game was also delayed six minutes at the start. "We're getting hits from a lot of different people," Cubs manger Don Baylor said. "I'm just glad nobody got hurt out there. It was treacherous on the mound." Henry Rodriguez gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead with a solo homer off Bruce Chen. A bases-loaded walk to Gutierrez and a two-run single by Grace capped the four-run inning. Kevin Tapani allowed five runs and five hits in six innings. Chen, acquired in a deal with Atlanta for Andy Ashby on July 12, had his worst start as a Phillie. He struck out a career-high eight in just three innings, but allowed five hits, four runs and walked three. He allowed just one run in his first two starts with the Phillies. A two-run homer by Bobby Abreu cut the deficit to 4-3. The Cubs quickly regained a four-run lead after the second delay on Sosa's shot to right-center off Mark Holzemer in the fourth. The Phillies cut it to 8-5 when Ron Gant hit his 20th homer -- a two-run shot -- in the sixth. Pat Burrell hit a solo homer in the ninth. Game notesThe Phillies have homered in 11 straight games. ... Phillies 3B Scott Rolen and 2B Mickey Morandini both made outstanding plays on consecutive Chicago batters in the eighth. ... Before the game, the Phillies traded OF Rob Ducey to Toronto for a player to be named and the Cubs dealt right-hander Ismael Valdes back to Los Angeles for two minor-leaguers. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Chicago Cubs Clubhouse Philadelphia Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 8 Cleveland 1
Chicago Cubs 14
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