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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- White Sox fans will have to find some other uses
for their brooms.
Sammy Sosa tied the game with a two-run double in the seventh,
and pinch-hitter Chad Meyers drove in the winning run with a
ninth-inning grounder Sunday as the Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago
White Sox 6-5, avoiding a three-game sweep in the crosstown series.
"They can take that broom and sweep their house," Cubs starter
Ismael Valdes said. "But not today."
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the White Sox,
whose 37-24 record leads the AL. But they maintained their two-game
lead over Cleveland in the AL Central when the Indians lost to the
Reds 7-5 in extra innings.
The loss also spoiled a two-homer day by Jose Valentin, who got
his 100th career homer on a solo shot in the first inning. The
White Sox also got home runs from Ray Durham, Frank Thomas and
Magglio Ordonez.
"It's not how many home runs you hit," Valentin said. "It's
how many runs you score."
And the Cubs, who had led for just two half-innings the entire
series, finally got some offense when it counted. With Eric Young
on first in the ninth, Brant Brown singled to shallow center off
reliever Jesus Pena, dropping the ball perfectly into the gap in
right-center.
Ordonez scooped the ball up and threw to third, but Young slid
and beat the play by inches. That brought up Sosa, who tied the
game in the seventh but also was 2-for-13 with nine strikeouts for
the series.
Pena walked Sosa, loading the bases with one out. Meyers
pinch-hit for Willie Greene and hit a bouncer to short.
"I saw the ball hit off the bat, saw where it was going, put my
head down and ran for my life," Meyers said. "I didn't do much,
but my little part was enough."
Valentin threw to second to get Sosa, but Meyers beat Durham's
throw to first and Young scored the go-ahead run.
"The last play came down to a tenth of a second," White Sox
first baseman Paul Konerko said. "It was just that close. It was a
heartbreaker today."
Pena (1-1) gave up one run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. He also
walked one and struck out one.
Todd Van Poppel (1-2) stuck out three in 2 1/3 innings. Rick
Aguilera got the last out for his 12th save in 16 chances.
The White Sox fans had their brooms out after the sixth inning,
when Durham and Valentin gave the South Siders a 5-2 lead with
back-to-back homers. It was the second time in the game the White
Sox connected for consecutive home runs; Thomas and Ordonez did it
in the third inning.
The five homers allowed were a career-high for Valdes, but his
teammates bailed him out with their seventh-inning rally.
"I guarantee you you'll never see this kind of game again,"
Valdes said. "Today was not a good day for me, but it was a good
day because we won."
James Baldwin started the seventh by hitting Damon Buford and
walking Jeff Reed. Kelly Wunsch relieved Baldwin and gave up a run
when Young singled. Wunsch struck out Brown for the second out, and
Bill Simas was then brought in to face Sosa.
Sosa, who's had a tumultuous week with his much-publicized
blow-up with manager Don Baylor and the trade rumors that followed,
finally had a good at-bat, doubling all the way back to the
right-center wall to score Reed and Young and tie the game.
"I only got two hits in the series, but those two hits
counted," said Sosa, who tied Friday night's game with a
ninth-inning homer. "They came at the right time."
Game
notes
Brown, who joined the Cubs on Saturday after being acquired
in a three-team trade, hit a 2-run homer in the third inning. ...
Valentin's 11 home runs are the most for a White Sox shortstop
since Ron Hansen hit 11 in 1965. ... The White Sox have now homered
in 15 straight games, one shy of the club record set in 1987. ...
The White Sox drew 131,104 fans for the three-game series, the
second-largest three-day crowd ever at new Comiskey; the largest
was for last year's city series.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Brant Brown explains his 2-run homer off White Sox pitcher James Baldwin.
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