Sosa sinks the Astros

Carlos Beltran did all he could to keep the Houston Astros in the game. Then Sammy Sosa sent the Chicago Cubs home with a victory.

Beltran homered from both sides of the plate to help the Astros rally from a 4-0 deficit, but Sosa drove one out against Brad Lidge in the 10th to give the Cubs a 5-4 win Thursday in Chicago.

"Houston pitched me great and they didn't make that many mistakes. This guy throws 98 mph, so I just said to myself, 'Let me go up there and get ready,' " Sosa said.

Sosa's long homer to left on the first pitch from Lidge (2-4) was his 13th of the season and the 552nd of his career.

It was Sosa's third homer since coming off the disabled list 13 games ago, a back injury brought on by a hard sneeze.

"I never doubted I was going to come back and help the team the way they want me to help," Sosa said. "Be patient because I'm not going to do it every day. But I'll be there."

And so will Beltran, who finished with four homers in the three-game series while extending his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games.

In six games with Houston, he's been every bit as good as the Astros could have imagined when they traded to get him from the Royals.

"He's awesome, a good player," Sosa said. "Every chance he had to come through in the clutch, he did it. He has a good future there in Houston."

Jon Leicester (2-0) worked a hitless 10th for the win and was able to retire Beltran on a fly ball with a runner on first.

Chicago's Mark Prior pitched 7 1-3 solid innings in his longest outing of the season, leaving with two on in the eighth and a 4-1 lead.

After Craig Biggio doubled and Mike Lamb walked in the eighth, Cubs manager Dusty Baker brought in lefty Kent Mercker to face the switch-hitting Beltran, whose first three homers of the series came batting left-handed.

Turning Beltran around didn't make any difference. He sent Mercker's first pitch high over the fence in left to tie the game at 4 and deny Prior a victory.

"I ruined it for Mark with one pitch," Mercker said.

In his sixth start of the season, Prior retired 12 straight at one point before Beltran hit his first homer to make it 4-1.