Sosa Hits 50th as Cubs Lose, 7-6

ST. LOUIS —  Sammy Sosa reached 50 home runs for the third consecutive season Saturday, joining St. Louis’ Mark McGwire as the only players to accomplsh the feat.

Unfortunately for Sosa, the Chicago Cubs lost to the Cardinals, 7-6, as Fernando Tatis hit two homers and drove in five runs.

“Today, I’m the man,” said Tatis, who then expressed admiration for Sosa: “It’s great for him, it’s amazing that he could do that, it’s unbelievable.”

Babe Ruth is the only other player with at least three seasons of 50 or more homers, doing it four times.

McGwire’s string of four consecutive 50-homer seasons probably will end this season as the Cardinal slugger has been limited to 32 homers because of a lingering knee injury.

Said Sosa: “I feel great to be in the same group with Babe Ruth and Mark, but the other side of this is that we lost the game. I feel great for the individual accomplishment but I would have enjoyed it more if we had won the game.”

The victory cut the Cardinals’ magic number for clinching the National League Central title to three.

The Cardinals have won 13 of their last 16 while the Cubs have lost four in a row and 14 of 16.

Tatis, sidelined for 54 games this season with a groin injury, hit a solo homer in the second inning and his fifth career grand slam in the third as the Cardinals opened a 6-2 lead. Tatis has 18 homers this season and seven career multi-homer games.

Sosa hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off reliever Gene Stechschulte to tie the score.

The Cardinals took a 7-6 lead, also in the sixth, when Placido Polanco singled off Jerry Spradlin (0-1) and scored on a pinch-hit double by J.D. Drew.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A 50-50 Proposition

. . . and Better

Players with multiple seasons of 50 home runs or more:

FOUR TIMES

*--*

MARK McGWIRE 1996 (52), 1997 (58) 1998 (70), 1999 (65) BABE RUTH 1920 (54), 1921 (59) 1927 (60), 1928 (54)

*--*

THREE TIMES

*--*

SAMMY SOSA 1998 (66), 1999 (63) 2000 (50)

*--*

TWO TIMES

*--*

JIMMIE FOXX 1932 (58), 1938 (50) KEN GRIFFEY JR. 1997 (56), 1998 (56) RALPH KINER 1947 (51), 1949 (54) MICKEY MANTLE 1956 (52), 1961 (54) WILLIE MAYS 1955 (51), 1965 (52)

*--*