Cross-Town Rivals Fall Victim to Wrigley Magic

Friday morning I walked into my office, where a majority are Cubs fans, and there was a feeling of "uh-oh" in the air.

Nobody was willing to predict a weekend series with the cross-town rivals, the White Sox. Especially after watching the team complete their first three-game losing streak of the year.

And especially after watching the Sox whip the lowly Pirates, with power and excellent pitching. As a fan, you hope to win two out of three against a good team, but a sweep didn't seem so likely.

As the day wore on, I became cautiously optimistic, knowing that this team carried the league's second-best home record, second only to the team that just swept them out of Tampa.

So winning at home would be a easy tasks, knowing the stats, and knowing that this team thrives off of its 40,000 friends chanting, "Let's Go Cub's!!" and standing on almost every 0-2 and 3-2 count, even early on in a game.

The Cubs took the lead in the first, only to have the Sox tie it right back up. Lily was shaky at first, but like his recent starts, he settled down as the game wore on.

Besides a two-run homer to Cubs' fans most hated player, A.J Pierzynski, Lily seem to cruise.

Lily seemed in control. It was 3-1 in the seventh, and that's when the power and offense that was absent in the Tampa series seemed to suddenly come to life.

Derrek Lee (15) launched reliever Octavio Dotel's first pitch into the stands, and moments later, Aramis Ramirez lit him up for another home run (14). 

We have been here before. Recently, the Cubs take a lead late in the game and seemingly give it right back in the next inning. But not this time.

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Ramirez took Linebrink's first pitch out of the park.

The cheers in my office were getting louder as the game wore on. As a Cubs fan, I have lived and died on every pitch. I want to say the Cubs will be there in late October. 

We have seen these types of predictions become false hope. Look at the Mets last year, and even this year.

But there is something special in the Wrigley water. There's a feeling you get when you watch it on TV. This year, something is different.

Something was different on Friday. It was as if Cubs fans could breathe a sigh of relief that the three-game losing streak was a distant memory, and come Monday morning, every Sox fan in my office (all two of them) had broom.