If you missed Sunday’s finale of the Cubs-White Sox series, let’s just say—you missed chaos personified on a baseball field. This wasn’t just your garden-variety cross-town rivalry game. Nope. It was the rollercoaster we didn’t know we needed, complete with a pickoff attempt gone wild, a basepath collision, and an umpire ruling that had fans from both sides scratching their heads or screaming at their TVs.
A pickoff attempt turns into chaos
Let’s rewind to the top of the eighth inning—Cubs leading 4-1, two outs, tension so thick you could cut it with a bat. White Sox catcher Edgar Quero tried to get sneaky and pick off Nico Hoerner at first base. Looked like a simple move—until Mike Vasil, the Sox pitcher, jumped into the play to cover the bag and started what would soon become a baseball carnival act.
Here’s where things turned from normal to “wait, what just happened?” Vasil whips the ball back toward home in an attempt to catch Ian Happ trying to pull off the ol’ sneak attack steal from third. But Happ wasn’t done. He saw the play collapse and tried to bolt back to third. And then—boom—he runs straight through Sox infielder Colson Montgomery like a guy sprinting to catch the last train out of Wrigleyville.
Obstruction call shocks the crowd and hands the Cubs a key run
Montgomery was standing right in front of the base, no ball in glove, unintentionally blocking the path—and that, my friends, is a classic case of obstruction. The ump didn’t hesitate. He pointed straight to home plate and said, “That’s a run.” Just like that, Happ was awarded home, and the Cubs were up 5-1.
White Sox rally falls just short in the eighth
That bizarre, heads-up, rulebook-perfect decision decided the game. The White Sox came roaring back in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs to make it a nail-biter. But they couldn’t get over the hump. Cubs took it, 5-4.
One play. One ruling. One run. And the kind of baseball drama that keeps this rivalry alive and well. This wasn’t just a win for the Cubs—it was a masterclass in how chaos, hustle, and a well-read umpire can completely rewrite the script in a blink.
