Day to Remember for Wood, Sosa

Now this is the kind of game Kerry Wood likes.

Wood won for only the second time since the All-Star break and Sammy Sosa hit his 494th career homer Monday as the Chicago Cubs routed the Milwaukee Brewers, 17-4, and salvaged a split of a doubleheader at Chicago.

“It feels good,” said Wood, who called his 1-3 record in his first 10 starts after the break “embarrassing” after his last loss.

“When you’re ahead by that much, guys can relax and you can have fun a little,” he said. “It was just fun to be out there playing baseball.”

Wood (10-8) tied a major league record with four strikeouts in the fourth inning and also hit a two-run homer, his first since May 2, 2000. Bill Mueller, Alex Gonzalez and Todd Hundley homered for the Cubs, whose 17 runs were a season high.

Wood gave up five hits over seven innings, striking out eight and walking two.

The Brewer pitching staff, meanwhile, was horrid. Former Dodger Ben Diggins (0-1), who was traded to Milwaukee in the Tyler Houston trade, gave up eight runs (seven earned) and recorded only four outs in his major league debut. He walked six and struck out two.

Sosa hit his first homer since Aug. 17 after sitting out nine games because of a strained back. Sosa broke a tie with Lou Gehrig and moved into 18th place on the career list.

In the first game, Ronnie Belliard homered twice, ex-Cubs Eric Young and Jose Hernandez had solo shots and Glendon Rusch (8-13) won his seventh in a row against Chicago in Milwaukee’s 4-2 victory. The Cubs stranded 11, including men on third in the fifth and sixth innings.

Atlanta 5, Pittsburgh 1--Greg Maddux won for the first time in a month, pitching eight strong innings at Atlanta as the Braves won their fourth in a row.

Maddux (12-5) gave up seven hits and also sparked a three-run rally in the third, singling up the middle and scoring Atlanta’s first run on a wild pitch.

Chipper Jones hit his 22nd homer for the Braves.

Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 3--Aaron Boone homered for the first time in 20 games and had three RBIs at St. Louis as the Reds ended a three-game losing streak.

Shawn Estes (5-11) gave up three runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Reds.

Adam Dunn, who had been in an eight-for-67 slump, had three hits and a first-inning RBI single.

Montreal 5, Philadelphia 1--Tomo Ohka pitched his second career complete game, a six-hitter that led the Expos at Montreal.

Ohka (13-6) got his second complete game in four starts.

Colorado 5, San Diego 2--Rookie Jason Jennings pitched seven strong innings and drove in two runs at San Diego as the Rockies ended a season-high nine-game losing streak.

Florida at New York, ppd.--The Met-Marlin game was postponed because of rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.