Sammy Sosa hit three mammoth home runs Sunday that totaled 1,305 feet, but the round-tripper that might eventually be used to eulogize the 2001 Cubs was a fluky line drive hit by Moises Alou.
Alou’s two-run shot in the seventh inning was the deciding blow in a 7-6 Astros victory that knocked the Cubs into third place in the wild-card hunt, 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis and one-half game behind San Francisco.
With one out, one runner aboard and Houston down by a run, Alou rifled David Weathers’ 1-0 pitch toward the left-field scoreboard.
The ball ricocheted off one of the `8′ signs used for out-of-town scores and trampolined into the air before landing in the seats.
Crew chief Dana DeMuth originally called it a ground-rule double but changed his mind after conferring with his fellow umpires. Even though the ball landed below the yellow line, it was ruled a home run.
Several Cubs stormed the umpires to protest. But DeMuth compared it to a ball hitting off a player’s glove and landing in the seats. As long as the ball didn’t touch the ground, it was a homer.
So they got the call right?
“For them it was the right call and not for us,” manager Don Baylor said. “But it’s the rule.”
Sosa jogged in from right field to hear the umpires explain their decision.
“It surprised me,” he said, “but what can you do? They made the call and you have to take it. It pretty much surprised everybody. That was the game right there.”
It didn’t have to be. On a day in which Sosa hit three homers and Fred McGriff ripped a solo blast, the Cubs’ pitching could not corral Houston’s potent lineup.
After Jon Lieber struggled through five innings, Julian Tavarez and Weathers coughed up three crucial runs.
“That’s the disappointing thing,” Baylor said of the bullpen. “That’s been our strength all year. We had the lead here three times and we lost two out of three.”
McGriff has homered in four straight games, but that isn’t nearly as impressive as Sosa’s latest feat.
He became the first player in major-league history to hit three home runs in a game three times in the same season. He now has 58 homers for the season and five three-homer games in his career.
“I have to go out every day and do my job regardless of what happens,” said Sosa, who has 10 homers against the Astros this season.
Sosa’s three shots, all of which came against Astros right-hander Tim Redding, were nothing short of gargantuan.
The first homer hit the glass panels beyond the facade over the left-field wall and was estimated at 432 feet.
His second shot was a 454-foot blast into the sports bar beyond center field. It was the fourth-longest shot in the two-year history of Enron Field.
His third homer, which hit the railroad tracks in left, traveled a mere 419 feet.
“Unfortunately I was part of history in an infamous way,” Redding said. “But if you’re going to give ’em up, at least they were legit.”
