The Chicago Cubs warned fans that disruptive behavior will not be tolerated before Tuesday night’s Cubs Sox game against the White Sox, a message sharpened by the bleachers brawl that broke out at Wrigley Field on Monday night. First pitch for game 2 was set for 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
The warning matters because it came one night after several fans had to be escorted out of the ballpark, turning a rivalry game into a test of crowd control as much as baseball. The Cubs said fan safety is always a top priority and said the team works closely with public safety partners to respond to incidents at the park and to address what happened last night.
Monday’s game still belonged to the field for much of the night. The Cubs beat the Sox 7-5 in 10 innings, and Pete Crow-Armstrong capped it with his first career walk-off homerun. That ending gave the club a clean headline on the scoreboard, even as the scene in the bleachers left a separate story for Tuesday’s crowd.
What remains unclear is how many people were involved in the brawl and whether any arrests were made. What is clear is that the Cubs moved quickly to draw a line before the next first pitch, telling fans that the behavior seen Monday will not be accepted when the cross-town match-up resumes at Wrigley Field.
For Pete Crow-Armstrong, the night was a milestone. For the Cubs, Tuesday became about making sure the second game of the series stays centered on the baseball and not on the stands.
