Sosa Gives Junior a Big Lesson

CINCINNATI —  Sammy Sosa visited the new home of Ken Griffey Jr. and showed him how it’s done.

Sosa hit a two-run homer deep to center field in his first at-bat and barely missed hitting two more as the Chicago Cubs broke out of their slump and beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-6, Friday night.

He outdid Griffey in their first head-to-head meeting in the regular season since 1991, driving in three runs to ignite Chicago’s sluggish offense.

Sosa also had a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right and a fly out to the wall in left, hitting a ball hard to each field--a sign that he’s ready to start hitting.

“I’m starting to feel much better,” said Sosa, who was hitless in 16 at-bats before hitting his first homer of the season. “I’m starting to feel more comfortable, more patient.”

By contrast, Griffey was hitless in four at-bats and had a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the ninth that was little consolation. In five games, Griffey is one for 18 and has hit only two balls out of the infield.

On Friday, he heard boos for the first time. The crowd was up and screaming when he came to bat in the ninth against Mark Guthrie, a left-hander he has hit hard in the past.

Cub Manager Don Baylor knew that Griffey was 11 for 23 (.478) against Guthrie with two homers. Baylor also knew how much Griffey was struggling and went with the matchup. Guthrie got Griffey on a routine fly to left that drove in Cincinnati’s final run.

The Cubs hadn’t won since beating the New York Mets, 5-3, in their opener in Tokyo. Their offense was nonexistent during a three-game sweep in St. Louis, getting outscored, 30-8 and outhit, 33-18.