Sosa’s Return Is No Help to the Cubs

So much for Sammy Sosa’s big homecoming bash.

Sosa was hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts in his first game since May 15, and Mark Kotsay and Mark Redman led Oakland to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday at Chicago.

Kotsay homered and drove in another run, and Redman (5-3) held the Cubs to four hits and an unearned run in eight innings.

“I’m just happy to be back,� Sosa said. “I want to do the best that I can, but I didn’t have any luck today. They pitched me great. I’ll see you tomorrow.�

Sosa had a chance to tie the score when he came to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but he grounded out.

“You guys expect me to hit two or three home runs in one at-bat. You’re talking about over a month I’ve been out,� said Sosa, who sprained a ligament in his back with two hard sneezes before the Cubs’ game in San Diego on May 16.

“Today was the first game, be patient. I just want to go out and do the best that I can right now.�

Chicago managed only a run-scoring single by Ramon Martinez and had only one hit the last four innings.

The Cubs are 6-10 in one-run games.

“It’s tough to lose another one-run game, but what can I say?� Manager Dusty Baker said. “Matty [Clement] threw a great game. If it hadn’t been for Kotsay, they wouldn’t have gotten anything.�

Clement (7-5) was sharp, giving up seven hits and two runs in eight innings while striking out eight and walking none.

Boston 14, San Francisco 9 -- Pinch-hitter Kevin Millar hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Red Sox powered past the Giants at San Francisco.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez also homered in the fifth and Trot Nixon and Doug Mirabelli hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth for Boston.

Marquis Grissom homered twice for the Giants, whose nine-game home winning streak ended.

Tampa Bay 6, Arizona 2 -- The Devil Rays stretched their franchise-record winning streak to nine games, beating Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks at Phoenix behind Jose Cruz Jr.’s three-run homer.

Johnson (9-5) was charged with five runs and eight hits in six innings. He struck out four, matching a season low.

Colorado 5, Baltimore 3 -- Shawn Estes gave up two runs in seven innings for his first win in a month, and Todd Helton drove in three runs as the Rockies won at Denver.

Rafael Palmeiro hit career home run No. 538 for the Orioles.

Toronto 3, San Diego 2 -- Frank Menechino homered on David Wells’ fifth pitch at San Diego, and Ted Lilly became the latest starter to shut down the Padres. Lilly gave up one run and three hits, struck out six and walked two in 6 1/3 innings.

Seattle 5, Pittsburgh 4 -- Jamie Moyer pitched six solid innings and hit a two-run single, leading the Mariners over the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

Moyer struck out four, walked one and gave up three hits in his first start in Pittsburgh since May 21, 1991, when he gave up two homers to Barry Bonds while pitching for St. Louis.

Kansas City 10, Philadelphia 4 -- Matt Stairs homered twice, and Benito Santiago hit a three-run shot to lead the Royals to victory at Philadelphia.

Chris George (1-0) gave up four runs and nine hits -- all singles -- in 6 2/3 innings, helping the Royals win their third consecutive game -- each by the same score.

Chicago White Sox 11, Montreal 7 -- Carlos Lee had four hits with four runs batted in, and the White Sox extended the Expos’ losing streak to seven with a victory at Montreal.

Texas 8, Florida 1 -- John Wasdin won his first start in nearly six years, Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs and the Rangers ended a four-game losing streak at Miami.

Cleveland 4, Atlanta 2 -- Cliff Lee outpitched Mike Hampton to win for the first time in six starts, and Casey Blake hit a tiebreaking homer at Atlanta to lift the Indians over the Braves in their first meeting since the 1995 World Series.

New York 3, Detroit 2 -- Mike Cameron homered with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Mets to victory at New York.

Milwaukee 4, Minnesota 1 -- Ben Sheets pitched four-hit ball for six innings, and Chad Moeller homered at Milwaukee to lead the Brewers to victory.