Sammy Sosa hit his second grand slam in as many nights, and career-high 41st home run of the season, but it wasn't enough Tuesday night as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Chicago Cubs 7-5 in Phoenix.
Sosa, who has four home runs in three games, had the longest streak of homers without a grand slam from the start of his career - 246 - before he hit one in the Cubs' 6-2 victory Monday night.Three at-bats later, he hit another, clearing the left-field wall with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to put the Cubs up 5-3. He became the 16th major leaguer to hit a grand slam in consecutive games and second this year.
Mike Piazza did it for the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 9 and 10, the first one against the Diamondbacks. Babe Ruth did it twice. Nobody has done it in three consecutive games.
Sosa, who went 2-for-5, has three homers and 10 RBIs in two games in Bank One Ballpark, giving him an NL-leading 106 RBIs. He still trails Mark McGwire by four home runs after the St. Louis slugger hit his 45th.
With the victory, Arizona, for a change, does not have the worst record in the majors. Florida is 38-69, the Diamondbacks are 38-68. Karim Garcia's bases-loaded triple off the right-field fence with two outs in the bottom of the fifth put Arizona up 7-5.
BREWERS 13, CARDINALS 10: Mark McGwire hit his major league-leading 45th home run following Ray Lankford's grand slam in the eighth inning, but Darrin Jackson's slam in the top of the ninth gave Milwaukee a wild victory over the Cardinals in St. Louis.
McGwire, who entered the game with just one hit in his last 20 at-bats, added to his team-record home run total with his 100th RBI of the year. He also had a single, a walk and a sacrifice fly in five trips to the plate.
REDS 13, BRAVES 1: The Atlanta Braves set up four Cincinnati runs with a sloppy second inning, and Mark Wohlers had another out-of-control relief appearance that let the Reds pull away.
The Reds had a lot of help as they won for only the second time in 12 games. Atlanta made three mistakes in a four-run second inning that put Cincinnati in control, and Wohlers set up a seven-run eighth inning because he once again had trouble throwing strikes. Wohlers threw only 10 strikes in 31 pitches. He retired three batters, gave up one hit and walked five.
GIANTS 7, EXPOS 1: Kirk Rueter pitched a two-hitter and singled in the go-ahead run, and Bill Mueller added a two-run double in a five-run seventh inning to give San Francisco a victory over Montreal.
DODGERS 7, PHILLIES 3: Eric Karros and Raul Mondesi hit two-run homers as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
Karros and Mondesi each went 2-for-4 and scored a run, and Gary Sheffield went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs as the Dodgers won for the 10th time in 15 games.
METS 7, PADRES 3: John Olerud and Brian McRae homered and drove in three runs apiece to lead the New York Mets over the San Diego Padres.
Hideo Nomo (5-8) won his third straight start and got his third victory for New York since debuting with the Mets on June 9.
ASTROS 7, MARLINS 3: Sean Bergman pitched eight strong innings and hit a two-run double as Houston beat Florida.
ROCKIES 12, PIRATES 6: Larry Walker homered twice and had an infield single to take over the NL batting lead as Colorado defeated Pittsburgh.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 6, TIGERS 5: Eric Davis hit a three-run homer as the Baltimore Orioles overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Detroit Tigers.
BLUE JAYS 8, RANGERS 3: Roger Clemens won his eighth straight decision and Jose Canseco hit a two-run double as the Blue Jays handed the Rangers their fourth straight loss.
Clemens (13-6) allowed three runs and seven hits in 62/3 innings, walked two and struck out four.
WHITE SOX 4, DEVIL RAYS 1: Albert Belle matched the major league record for home runs in July with 15, and James Baldwin pitched 62/3 strong innings as Chicago ended Tampa Bay's best-ever five-game winning streak.
TWINS 3, ROYALS 0: Brad Radke pitched 72/3 shutout innings and Todd Walker tied a Minnesota record with his ninth straight hit.
Walker hit an RBI single in the second inning to tie the team record for consecutive hits set in 1967 by Tony Oliva and matched in 1985 by Mickey Hatcher.
Walker also matched the Twins' record of reaching base in 11 straight plate ap-pear-ances.
INDIANS 4, MARINERS 3: Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer off Randy Johnson in the sixth in what may have been the left-hander's final start for Seattle as Cleveland won for the fifth time in six games against the Mariners.
YANKEES 9, ANGELS 3: David Cone became the first 15-game winner in the majors, and Derek Jeter, Darryl Strawberry and Bernie Williams homered for New York.
RED SOX 8, ATHLETICS 4: Darren Lewis hit a three-run inside-the-park homer that was initially ruled a four-base error, and Troy O'Leary added a two-run shot as Boston won its third straight.
It was the second straight game the Red Sox had an inside-the-park homer. Nomar Garciaparra had one Sunday against Seattle, a three-run shot at Fenway Park.