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Pastimes : NNBM - SI Branch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (27911)	7/30/2003 1:25:06 AM
From: elpolvo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104218

.jpg dude- Hope she destroys the curve. don't defame her figure to 3rd parties in public. it's libel to haunt you. <g> -elp

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (27911)	8/4/2003 4:09:16 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104218

Baker makes call, Sosa decides it ______________________ BY TONI GINNETTI Staff Reporter The Chicago Sun-Times August 4, 2003 suntimes.com Matt Clement knows his job is to pitch for the Cubs, not manage them. "That's what we got Dusty [Baker] for,'' Clement said Sunday, "and he does a pretty good job of it.'' Both did their jobs well in another grueling, rain-delayed victory--this one a 2-1 decision against the Arizona Diamondbacks--even when the weather-beaten crowd of 39,473 seemed ready to call for Baker's head in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and the Cubs trailing 1-0, Baker let Clement bat for himself--an almost identical situation to a July2 game in Philadelphia when Clement batted with men on base in a scoreless game in which he had allowed only one hit. Both times Clement failed at the plate, but both times he and the Cubs were victors thanks to a Sammy Sosa home run. "Sammy came up big,'' Clement said of Sosa's decisive two-run drive in the seventh off Oscar Villarreal (7-5), who had just entered in relief of rookie ace Brandon Webb. With the skies threatening another downpour like the 3-hour, 14-minute storm that delayed the game's start, Sosa slammed an 0-1 pitch into the seats in left-center field, scoring Kenny Lofton (walk) ahead of him. Sosa's 24th homer of the season was his first in the three-game series. And it redeemed Baker after relievers Mark Guthrie and Dave Veres (first save) completed the drama in the ninth, aided by catcher Damian Miller's key play in throwing out Raul Mondesi attempting to steal second with one out. "The decisions the manager makes are tough,'' Sosa said, "but as a team, that's what you do. We support him.'' Baker didn't consider his sixth-inning decision all that difficult. "In my mind, it was [Clement's] game,'' Baker said. "It was the sixth inning, he had a one-hitter going [allowing only Luis Gonzalez's solo home run in the fourth] and we had three more innings to score one or two runs. I had my big men coming up in the seventh inning. I knew Matty didn't have much of a chance against that young man [Webb], but their bullpen was probably tired like ours was, so you roll the dice.'' The Cubs won their third consecutive high-stakes series, having taken two of three games against the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants. They remained 3-1/2 games behind the division-leading Astros and pulled 1-1/2 behind the second-place St.Louis Cardinals. The Arizona series was especially draining, with a three-hour rain delay Friday in a 14-inning game in addition to Sunday's soggy affair. "It was such a big win today, especially with Houston winning,'' Clement said. "Not that you're watching the scoreboard, but with nothing to do for three hours, you're watching that [Houston-Florida] game.'' The Cubs improved their overall record to 56-54 and closed to one game below .500 at home (28-29) after a 4-2 homestand. "When I was younger, the Diamondbacks gave me fits over and over,'' said Clement, who has received only five runs of support in his last four starts but is 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA in that stretch. In his last two starts, he allowed only one run and five hits while striking out 15. "The way Webb was pitching, I might have lost 1-0,'' Clement said. "But the guys battled back, and with Sammy in the lineup, that's what he brings. "Dusty had a tough decision [in the sixth], but that's what Dusty gets paid for and that's why we brought him here. Dusty's track record speaks for itself. He's been a Manager of the Year, managed in the World Series, so you have to stick with him. It doesn't always work out, but today it did. He gives us a lot of chances to succeed, and you have to love playing for a manager like that.''