Bellhorn makes NL history with big inning

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Mark Bellhorn expected to spend the afternoon

watching Sammy Sosa return to Chicago's lineup and give the Cubs

some pop.

Instead, with Sosa sidelined by a sore neck, Bellhorn provided a

pair of home runs -- and history.

Bellhorn became the first player in National League ever to

homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning Thursday as

the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 13-10.

"Sosa was going to play, but when he took some swings off the

tee, there was no way he was going to go,'' Cubs manager Bruce Kimm

said.

So, Angel Echevarria moved from first base to right field to

make room for Bellhorn, who ignited a 10-run burst in the fourth

inning with a two-run shot off left-hander Andrew Lorraine that

traveled 410 feet to center field at Miller Park.

By the time he came up again with two outs in the inning,

Lorraine had given way to right-hander Jose Cabrera. Batting from

the left side, Bellhorn connected on a full-count fastball for a

three-run, 380-foot drive that made it 9-0.

"Sometimes it's tough,'' Bellhorn said of switching stances in

the middle of a game. "I've been facing a lot of left-handers

lately. You get used to seeing the ball that way. Then you step in

the box against a righty and you feel kind of weird. After that

first swing, I'm fine.''

Bellhorn joined Carlos Baerga as the only switch-hitters in

major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the

same inning. Baerga accomplished the feat in the seventh inning on

April 8, 1993, against the New York Yankees.

Also, Bellhorn's five RBI in one inning tied a team record set

by Billy Williams on May 1, 1964.

Bill Mueller followed Bellhorn's second homer with one of his

own, giving the Cubs their biggest inning since Sept. 11, 1990,

when Chicago scored 10 times in the second inning against Montreal.

Richie Sexson hit a grand slam for Milwaukee, highlighting a

six-run ninth.

With the teams combining to bat around three times, the game

lasted 3 hours, 40 minutes.

"It seemed like the game started at 10 this morning,'' Brewers

reliever Ray King said. "I though it would never end. It was

ugly.''

The game featured 22 hits, four errors and 15 runners left on.

Matt Clement (11-9) struck out 10 in seven innings, giving him

187 for the season, third in the NL behind Arizona pitchers Randy

Johnson and Curt Schilling.

The game was the last for the teams before Friday's strike

deadline. The Cubs are scheduled to play the first game in the

majors on Friday, at 3:20 p.m. ET against St. Louis at Wrigley

Field.

In the ninth inning, the Brewers announced they had traded

pitcher Jamey Wright to St. Louis for minor league outfielder Chris

Morris and a player to be named.

Wright said he was excited to go to a pennant contender but had

no idea what he should do as far as travel plans because of the

strike uncertainty.

"I don't know if I'm pitching tomorrow or Saturday. I'll

probably drive down tonight,'' said Wright, whose wife, Marnie,

just returned from Phoenix, where the couple sold their home.

"She just got back a week ago and now she'll have to pack all

our stuff again,'' Wright said.

The Brewers also batted around in the fourth, but they managed

just three runs off Clement, who was coming off a three-hit shutout

at Arizona on Saturday.

After Ronnie Belliard's RBI single and an error on Bellhorn at

first base on Jorge Fabregas's high-hopper allowed two more runs to

score, Mark Loretta flied out to right with the bases loaded to end

the inning.

In his first major league start since April 30, 2000, Lorraine

(0-1) gave up seven runs, five of them earned, on eight hits in 3

1/3 innings.

Among the many signs in the stands relating to the strike was

one that read: "Savoring the last day of baseball.''

Game notes
Sosa is the only other Cubs batter to hit two homers in an

inning. He did it on May 15, 1996, against Houston. ... Bellhorn's

23 homers are the most ever for a Cubs switch-hitter. ... The

Brewers designated LHP Jimmy Osting for assignment and purchased

the contract of RHP Nelson Figueroa, who was demoted earlier this

month. Figueroa was penciled in to take Wright's spot in the

rotation Friday night in Cincinnati. ... Brewers RHP Valerio De Los

Santos left in the sixth inning with flulike symptoms.