Cubs Supply Thunder on a Rainy Night, 26-7

It began at 7:06 p.m. Friday night with the calm of a perfectly placed bunt single by Brian McRae.

By the time the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies left Coors Field at 1:15 a.m. Saturday, the calm had turned into the wildest game yet at the first-year ballpark.

During the six-plus hours--three hours 22 minutes of actual play and a rain delay of two hours 45 minutes--the Cub bats terrorized seven Rocky pitchers in a 26-7 victory.

Chicago had seven doubles, a triple and three home runs--27 hits in all--shaking up the record book of the 119-year-old franchise.

The Cubs tied their post-1900 record for most runs in a game and came close to the major league mark.

The Cubs matched their modern team record for runs, set Aug. 25, 1922, against Philadelphia. The team’s 27 hits were one short of its modern record, set July 3, 1945, against Boston.

Chicago holds the all-time record for runs with 36 on June 29, 1897, against Louisville. The post-1900 NL record is 28 by St. Louis on July 6, 1929, against Philadelphia. The major league record is 29 by Boston on June 8, 1950, against St. Louis and by the Chicago White Sox on April 23, 1955, against Kansas City.

“There is no explanation to what went on out there,” said Luis Gonzalez, who drove in six runs and had a three-run, first-inning homer. “We came out swinging the bats and never quit.”

“I’ve been on both sides of these, the good side and the bad,” Chicago first baseman Mark Grace said. “You want to save a few hits and runs in a game like this, but you can’t.”

It was the highest-scoring game ever against the Rockies and came against Bret Saberhagen, Colorado’s best pitcher. Saberhagen (6-6), the two-time Cy Young Award winner, didn’t survive a seven-run first inning in the worst of his 304 starts in the majors.