BULLS DEN l BLACKHAWKS DEN l BEARS DEN l CHICAGO'S AUDIO ZONE
Blame it on the 92-degree heat.
The Cubs rallied to defeat Colorado 5-4 Tuesday, gaining a game in the standings on Houston in the process, in one of the more crazy nights in recent memory at sweltering Wrigley Field.
How crazy?
The Cubs scored the winning run in the last of the ninth on a fielder's choice that went from the Rockies left fielder, to the catcher, to the shortstop, to the first baseman, to the pitcher and back to the catcher for a play at the plate.
Maybe even more bizarre was an incident during the seventh-inning stretch involving former Bear Steve McMichael, who challenged home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez before singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on TV for what he felt was a blown call earlier.
"It was a hot, emotional night," Ron Coomer said. "There seemed to be a bit of everything. It was probably a good game for the fans."
It was definitely a good game for the Cubs, whose first-place lead in the National League Central is back to 21/2 games thanks to their win and Houston's 6-5 loss in Atlanta.
Considering how Ricky Gutierrez scored the winning run in the ninth, maybe this is the Cubs' year after all.
It was 4-4 when Gutierrez and Sammy Sosa opened the ninth with singles. Fred McGriff struck out with the winning run at second, but pinch hitter Joe Girardi lined a single to left. Gutierrez thought he could score easily, but he stumbled and fell halfway between third base and home.
With Gutierrez scrambling back to third and Sosa to second, the Rockies began throwing the ball all around the infield. They couldn't get Sosa at second and tried to nail Girardi going back to first. While pitcher Gabe White was making the tag on Girardi, Gutierrez broke for home and made it with a dramatic head-first slide.
"It was basically chaos," Girardi said. "And I'm not sure it was organized."
Gutierrez's daring dash more than made up for him falling in the first place.
"Once they got the ball back to the pitcher, I felt this was my chance to score," Gutierrez said.
The win by the Cubs overshadowed what happened with McMichael, whom the umpires felt was trying to incite the crowd of 40,266 that already was hostile toward Hernandez after he called Coomer out on a close play at the plate in the sixth.
"All I said was, 'Chicago fans, don't worry about that home-plate ump. Mongo will have a speech with him after the game,'" McMichael said. "I didn't say I was going to whip his (butt). Did you see him? He got all sensitive. You can't be insecure and be a home-plate ump, for God's sake."
Hernandez glared up at McMichael with his hands on his hips. Crew chief Randy Marsh sprinted to the Cubs' dugout, calling security to have McMichael stop talking.
"It was bad timing right there," Hernandez said. "All it does is incite the crowd."
Marsh said he wasn't trying to have McMichael thrown out of the ballpark.
"I felt his comments were inappropriate and unprofessional," Marsh said. "I know they like to have colorful characters up there, but you've got to be professional."
Cubs manager Don Baylor didn't appreciate McMichael's antics, either.
"The seventh-inning stretch is one thing, but you shouldn't incite the fans," Baylor said. "I didn't want a forfeit or anything."
Cubs starter Kevin Tapani failed to end his personal winless streak, now at 11 starts (0-7 with 4 no-decisions). He again pitched well enough to win, leaving the game ahead 4-2 after the seventh.
"It was another great performance by Tap," Baylor said. "I thought we had it for him at 4-2."