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Thursday, Sep. 28 2:20pm ET
Grace's final home game as a Cub? | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Exactly two years ago Thursday, Mark Grace celebrated one of his favorite moments as a Chicago Cub when the team won the NL wild card in a tiebreaker playoff against San Francisco. He celebrated the anniversary by playing what might have been his last home game with the Cubs. Grace went 0-for-4 as the Cubs lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies in their final game at Wrigley Field this year. Cliff Politte struck out a career-high nine and hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly, and Kevin Jordan homered in the fifth for the Phillies. Grace was given a standing ovation before his first at-bat in the first inning and again before his at-bat in the eighth. The first baseman, eligible for free agency after the World Series, has spent all 13 of his major-league seasons with the Cubs, and it isn't clear if Chicago will attempt to re-sign him. "If I was a betting man, I'd say there's a better-than-average chance that it wasn't my last game here," Grace said. "I've had opposing players say, `Gracie, it's not going to be the Cubs without you.' " Phillies manager Terry Francona talked about his respect for Grace. "Just from watching him from this side, he kind of to me represents a lot of the good things in baseball," Francona said. "He loves to play and he's been with one team his whole career. And I don't know what's going to happen -- it's none of my business -- but I'm kind of a Mark Grace fan." So is Cubs manager Don Baylor. "I'd like to have him back," Baylor said. "The ball's in the Cubs' court," said Grace, who made $5.3 million this year. "We've made it crystal clear that I'd like to remain a Cub." What's also certain is that the Cubs need more than Grace to improve. Philadelphia (65-94) moved one game ahead of Chicago (64-95) in the fight to avoid the worst record in the major leagues. "We've struggled with offense all year," Baylor said. "There's really no excuses. We've got to get into September where there are meaningful games." Politte (4-3) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. After Jeff Brantley forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk to Jeff Reed in the ninth, Vincente Padilla came in with the bases loaded for his second save in six chances. He struck out Willie Greene, turned Eric Young's comebacker into a force-out at home plate, then struck out Corey Patterson. "It couldn't be real easy to see at that time of day," Francona said of the late-inning shadows that crossed the infield. "Jeff just couldn't throw, couldn't find what he wanted to do. He was lost. "Padilla kept the ball down and threw hard, threw a couple good breaking balls, and they were right at them. He was aggressive and did exactly what he had to do." Joey Nation (0-2), who turned 22 Thursday, lost in his second big-league start, giving up four runs and six hits -- including Jordan's homer -- in 6 1/3 innings. Chicago went 38-42 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs drew 22,916, finishing with a home attendance of 2,734,511, the second-highest at Wrigley Field behind 2,813,854 last year. "I know we didn't come through this year," Chicago's Sammy Sosa said. "Hopefully, we can come back next year and compete." Alex Arias hit a run-scoring single for Philadelphia in the second, but Young's RBI single tied it in the bottom half. Politte hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Pat Burrell hit an RBI single in the seventh off Jamie Arnold. Game notesOn Sept. 28, 1998, the Cubs beat San Francisco 5-3 to win the NL wild card. ... Sosa leads the majors with 50 homers and is trying to become the first Cub to lead the NL in home runs since Ryne Sandberg hit 40 in 1990. ... The Wrigley Field grounds crew led the crowd in the seventh-inning stretch. ... Politte's previous strikeout high was seven, set June 17 against Atlanta. ... Phillies 3B Scott Rolen did not play because of a nagging back injury. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Philadelphia Clubhouse Chicago Cubs Clubhouse RECAPS Anaheim 6 Oakland 3
Philadelphia 4
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