DENVER - Sammy Sosa hit a trio of three-run homers to tie a franchise record with nine RBIs, then left in the sixth inning as the Chicago Cubs routed the Colorado Rockies 15-1 Saturday night. <br>
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Sosa connected in successive at-bats in the third, fourth and fifth innings at Coors Field. He took over the major league lead with 38 homers and matched Johnny Mize's record of six career three-homer games. <br>
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The nine RBIs were a career high for Sosa and tied the club mark set by Heinie Zimmerman in 1911. Sosa also became the fifth player with home runs in three straight innings. <br>
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But Sosa came out - with no apparent injury - before getting a chance to match the big league record of four homers in a game, accomplished by Seattle's Mike Cameron and Los Angeles' Shawn Green already this year. <br>
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Twice last season, Sosa left games early after hitting his third home run. <br>
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On Aug. 9, 2001, he connected in the seventh inning at Wrigley Field and then came out of a 14-5 loss to Colorado. Sosa said he appreciated the break from the hot and humid conditions. <br>
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Then on Aug. 22, he left in the sixth after hitting his third homer in a 16-3 romp over Milwaukee. After that game, Cubs manager Don Baylor said he didn't want to embarrass an opponent. <br>
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The Cubs, shut out by Colorado 2-0 Friday night, got 20 hits Saturday, including six homers. <br>
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Moises Alou had four hits and a pair of solo homers, and Fred McGriff homered immediately after Sosa's first shot. The 15 runs and 20 hits were both season highs. <br>
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The beneficiary of all that offense was rookie Mark Prior (6-3). He went six innings, allowing five hits and one run with eight strikeouts. <br>
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Sosa's first two drives - off Shawn Chacon - were estimated at 490 and 468 feet. <br>
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The 490-footer to right-center was the third-longest in Coors Field history, trailing only a 496-foot shot by Mike Piazza and a 493-footer by Larry Walker - both in 1997. <br>
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With runners on first and second in the third inning, Sosa connected on a 3-2 pitch. <br>
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With runners at first and second in the fourth, he homered to center to give the Cubs an 8-0 lead. <br>
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Again with runners on first and second in the fifth, Sosa homered off reliever Mark Corey. That blow, a mere 411 feet, barely cleared the left-field wall and gave the Cubs a 14-1 lead. <br>
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Chicago, which snapped the Rockies' four-game winning streak, got a run in the second on Alex Gonzalez's infield single. <br>
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The homers by Sosa and McGriff made it 5-0 in the third. <br>
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After Sosa's second homer, the Cubs scored six runs in the fifth off Corey. Alou led off with a homer, and Mark Bellhorn and Bill Mueller added RBI singles. <br>
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Alou homered again leading off the sixth, his 12th. <br>
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The Rockies managed a run in the fourth on Jack Cust's RBI groundout. <br>
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Chacon (5-9) went four innings, allowing 11 hits and eight runs. <br>
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NOTES: Colorado's Aaron Cook, one of the club's top prospects who was promoted from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday, made his major league debut, allowing one run in two innings of relief. ... Andres Galarraga was the last player to homer in three consecutive innings, for Colorado in 1995. ... Rockies pitchers came in with 15 straight scoreless innings against the Cubs.
