Sosa finds his old form

Cubs slugger belts two homers in win over Bucs

? Sammy Sosa appears to have found his swing, and the timing couldn’t be better for the Chicago Cubs.

Sosa hit his first grand slam in more than two years, and also had a solo homer as the Cubs hit three straight in the first inning on their way to a 13-5 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates that kept them on pace in the chase for the NL wild card.

“He’s swinging the bat great,” teammate Derrek Lee said. “When he’s swinging the bat like he is now, he can carry a team on his back.”

The rest of the Cubs aren’t too bad, either. Lee, Sosa and Michael Barrett connected in succession in the first inning, and Neifi Perez added a two-run shot in the sixth as the Cubs took advantage of a shaky outing by Oliver Perez (10-9).

The left-hander, who had allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but two of his previous 17 starts, gave up 10 hits — four homers — and six runs in 52/3 innings. He also walked four and struck out five.

“He just elevated some pitches and it cost him,” Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said.

Michael Wuertz (1-0) earned the win, striking out two in one inning. Ryan Dempster worked two scoreless innings for his first career save.

Lee’s homer was his 30th of the season, giving the Cubs four players — Lee, Sosa, Moises Alou and Aramis Ramirez — with 30 homers or more. They are the 10th major-league team to accomplish the feat, and the first since Toronto and Anaheim accomplished it in 2000.

“That’s cool to be a part of,” Lee said. “It just speaks to how good our lineup is, all the way through.”

Chicago's Sammy Sosa, right, celebrates with teammate Derrek Lee after hitting a grand slam against Pittsburgh. Sosa homered twice in the Cubs' 13-5 victory Wednesday in Chicago.

But will it be enough to carry the Cubs to the playoffs as the wild card?

Chicago began the day a half-game behind San Francisco. There were five teams within three games of the top spot, and the Cubs left Wrigley Field on Wednesday night for a 12-game road trip.

“It’s difficult, but I don’t want to hear anybody complaining,” manager Dusty Baker said.

D’backs 3, Rockies 2

Phoenix — Randy Johnson broke Steve Carlton’s major-league record for strikeouts by a left-hander, fanning 11 to lead Arizona past Colorado.

Johnson pitched eight strong innings and finished the night with 4,139 strikeouts, passing Carlton (4,136) for third overall on the career list behind only Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Roger Clemens (4,287).

The Big Unit struck out Vinny Castilla in the seventh for No. 4,137. Play was interrupted momentarily while the scoreboard flashed the statistics and the crowd cheered the workhorse of their struggling team. Despite Johnson’s big night, the paid attendance was announced as 22,598 — the second-lowest ever at Bank One Ballpark.

Johnson had his 12th double-digit strikeout game this year and 203rd overall.

Giants 8, Brewers 1

Milwaukee — Barry Bonds barely missed his 700th homer, but J.T. Snow connected following yet another walk to the San Francisco slugger, and the Giants beat Milwaukee behind Brett Tomko’s four-hitter. Bonds went 0-for-4 with a first-inning flyout to the right-field warning track, leaving him at 699. He is expected to start this afternoon in the series finale at Miller Park.

Cardinals 4, Astros 2

St. Louis — Jim Edmonds’ sacrifice fly snapped an eighth-inning tie, and Matt Morris bounced back from one of his worst starts of the season. Edmonds also hit his 42nd homer.

Braves 2, Mets 0

New York — Lame-duck manager Art Howe and New York lost for the 21st time in 25 games, with John Thomson pitching Atlanta to victory. The Mets fired Howe hours earlier, making the move effective at the end of the season.

Expos 6-10, Marlins 2-4

Miami — Tony Batista and Val Pascucci hit three-run homers to lift Montreal to a 10-4 victory and a doubleheader sweep of Florida. Brad Wilkerson hit his ninth leadoff homer of the season in Montreal’s 6-2 victory in the first game, which featured Brian Schneider getting picked off by Mike Lowell’s hidden ball trick.

Padres 7, Dodgers 3

Los Angeles — Brian Lawrence settled down after a shaky start to pitch six solid innings, and Brian Giles had three hits including a tiebreaking homer to lead San Diego over Los Angeles. The NL West-leading Dodgers’ lead was cut to 31/2 games over San Francisco, an 8-1 winner at Milwaukee.

Phillies 9, Reds 1

Cincinnati — Brett Myers pitched six solid innings and drove in the go-ahead run as Philadelphia salvaged the final game of their three-game series against Cincinnati.