Deion Sanders chose to do his talking with his bat, his legs, his glove and Matt Williams on Saturday.
The Giants, aided by Sanders’ three hits, his stolen base and warning-track catch, beat the Cubs 8-3 in Wrigley Field, “Neon” Deion announced through club public relations man Blake Rhodes that he will wait until a press conference in Dallas on Monday to discuss his reported five-year, $30 million deal with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
Instead, Williams, who drove home five runs with a grand slam and an RBI single, offered, in a sense, to speak for Sanders.
“My feeling is the same as Deion’s,” said Williams. “I’m happy for what he’s been able to do. He may have a chance to play in two playoffs this year.”
For now, however, there seemed little doubt in the Giants’ clubhouse that center field, not cornerback, holds Sanders’ focus.
“He’s playing center field for us,” said Williams. “That’s all he’s concentrating on now.”
Williams’ slugging, Terry Mulholland’s (5-10) pitching, and the first poor outing of the season by Cubs starter Frank Castillo combined to lift the Giants to 60-64 and drop the Cubs below .500 again at 61-62.
The Giants, however, look like a team on the come. Williams, who missed 68 games with a broken foot, hit the fifth grand slam of his career and hiked his season totals to 18 homers and 49 RBIs.
“We’re creeping back toward .500,” said Giants manager Dusty Baker. “We’re better, healthier, than we’ve been for a long time. Deion is taking this `distraction’ with him and not letting it distract him or anyone else.”
The Cubs never came back from the 4-0 lead Williams provided the Giants when he muscled Castillo’s up-and-away fastball into the right-field bleachers before Castillo had retired a batter.
“I’ve found that when I try for home runs, I don’t get them, and when I try for singles, I sometimes get home runs,” said Williams.
Williams had three singles and a double in Friday’s 7-3 Giants victory. He came to bat after Sanders singled and stole a base, and Robby Thompson and Barry Bonds both walked.
“The first pitch was a curveball for a ball,” said Williams. “I knew, with the bases loaded, he did not want to fall behind 2-0 or 3-1. I just tried to go with the pitch and hit it hard. It was a fastball. I think it was away.”
Castillo had not yielded as many as five earned runs in any of 24 previous starts. He was replaced after the Giants scored six runs, five on them earned, in just 2 1/3 third innings.
“My first bad game,” said Castillo. “I was asking for trouble when I walked Thompson and Bonds. Williams will do his damage.”
Mulholland did not pitch like a lefty who entered the game with a 4-10 record and a 6.30 ERA. He blanked the Cubs on two hits through five innings.
The only Cubs offense came in the sixth when Mark Grace drove home one run with an infield out, and Sammy Sosa had a two-run single to raise his RBI total to 105.
“Frank has been sharp in every start since spring training,” said Cubs manager Jim Riggleman. “This was the first start when he wasn’t consistently hitting the spots he wanted.”
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Next: Vs. San Francisco Sunday, 1:20 p.m., WGN-Ch. 9
