| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- It was such a long day Wednesday that even Sammy
Sosa was too tired to talk.
|  | | Sammy Sosa connects for a single in the first inning against the Mets on Wednesday. |
Benny Agbayani hit two solo home runs, his first shots since
connecting against the Cubs in Tokyo, and the New York Mets beat
Chicago 10-8 Wednesday in a game delayed by rain three times for
nearly 3½ hours.
The stop-and-start game began at 1:22 p.m. Chicago time and
ended at 8:25 p.m. Sosa, the subject of trade rumors, limited his
postgame questions to queries about the game only. "I'm pretty tired today," Sosa said.
The Sosa saga doesn't seem to be bothering his teammates.
"Until (a trade) happens, if it happens, he has to go out and
play right field and bat fourth and be the great player that he
is," Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said. "I know when I was facing (Mets starter Mike) Hampton, I wasn't
thinking about trading Sammy."
The rain delays were more annoying. "Guys sit around, play cards, do their mail and the next thing
you know, you play for one inning," said Cubs manager Don Baylor.
"I was just trying to find something to eat," Cubs second
baseman Eric Young said.
Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura also homered for the Mets.
Agbayani and Piazza each drove in three runs and Todd Zeile had
three hits.
Ventura and Mets manager Bobby Valentine both recalled a long
rain delay at old Comiskey Park when they were with the Chicago
White Sox and Texas Rangers, respectively. That game was never
played.
"This game today was more frustrating than the one in '90,"
Ventura said. "We sat around until 9:30 that day and didn't play.
Today, we had to stop and start and stop."
The visiting clubhouse at Wrigley Field is cramped. There are no
couches to lounge on, no big screen TVs. "This isn't a good place to hang out. But we made do," Hampton
said.
Augie Ojeda hit his first major league homer and drove in three
runs for the Cubs. He was watching the Weather Channel closely
because if the game was postponed, his home run wouldn't count. "Once we got past five (innings), I said, 'Now it's official. It can rain, do whatever it wants to do,"' Ojeda said.
Glendon Rusch (4-4) won with two innings of relief and will stay
in his rotation slot and start Saturday. Armando Benitez got four
outs for his 16th save in 18 chances.
Rain forced a 35-minute delay after the Mets batted in the first
inning. When play resumed, the Cubs took a 1-0 lead on Grace's RBI
single off Hampton. Ventura tied it with his 13th home run leading off the Mets
second against rookie Scott Downs.
There was another delay of 1:58 after the Mets hit in the
second. Pat Mahomes replaced Hampton, who slightly strained his
left groin, and gave up Ojeda's homer in the bottom half. Agbayani hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it 2-all.
Rain interrupted play a third time, this time for 50 minutes,
before the Cubs fourth. After that delay, Young hit a sacrifice fly
and Joe Girardi hit an RBI single. Piazza then tied it at 4 with his two-run homer in the fifth.
Jay Payton doubled to lead off the Mets sixth. One out later,
pinch-hitter Todd Pratt reached on third baseman Chad Meyers'
error. Kurt Abbott hit an RBI double that chased Daniel Garibay (1-2),
and Melvin Mora greeted Matt Karchner with an RBI double. One out
later, Piazza singled to drive in Mora and make it 8-4.
Agbayani hit a long homer to straightaway center leading off the
seventh to make it 9-4. Two innings later, he homered on to
Waveland Avenue over the left-field bleachers.
Agbayani's only other home run was a pinch-hit grand slam
against the Cubs on March 30 in the season-opening series at the
Tokyo Dome.
The Cubs sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh and pulled
within 9-8 on Glenallen Hill's RBI single, Ojeda's two-run single
and Willie Greene's RBI single.
Game notes
This was the last game of the season between the Cubs and
Mets. ... Hampton's status was day-to-day. ... Cubs pitcher Kerry
Wood pinch-hit for Downs in the second, his first career pinch-hit
appearance. He struck out. ... The Mets have 14 homers in their
last six games. ... Young tried for an inside-the-park homer with
two out in the Cubs sixth but hesitated after rounding third,
slipped halfway home and was thrown out after a rundown.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
Chicago Cubs Clubhouse
Red Sox reportedly get serious about Sosa sweepstakes
RECAPS
NY Yankees 2
Boston 1
Kansas City 5
Seattle 4
Chi. White Sox 11
Cleveland 4
Toronto 8
Detroit 1
Tampa Bay 3
Anaheim 2
Baltimore 11
Texas 10
Oakland 9
Minnesota 6
NY Mets 10
Chicago Cubs 8
San Francisco 6
Cincinnati 2
Atlanta 8
Pittsburgh 4
Florida 8
Philadelphia 1
Milwaukee 11
Montreal 2
Houston 8
Colorado 4
Arizona 5
Los Angeles 1
St. Louis 3
San Diego 1
|
