Cabrera and Rodriguez once again played starring roles for Florida. Cabrera, a 20-year-old rookie, hit his third homer of the series and drove in four runs while Rodriguez singled home a run that gave him an NLCS-record 10 RBIs.
Down 5-3 in the fifth, Rodriguez doubled home a run and Cabrera tied it with an RBI grounder. Derrek Lee, whose double keyed the eight-run rally in Game 6, followed with a single that put Florida ahead 6-5.
The Cubs had been hoping this would be the year they got a chance to win their first Series championship since 1908.
Instead, add this failure to all of their previous disappointments. That includes wasting a 2-0 lead over San Diego in the best-of-five NLCS, blowing a late lead to the New York Mets in the 1969 NL race and losing Game 7 of the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field to Detroit.
Baker was trying to become the first manager in history to lead two different teams to the World Series in consecutive years. Rather, he fell short, just as he did last year when his San Francisco Giants lost the last two games of the World Series at Anaheim.
At the start, the omens and the offense favored Florida.
Juan Pierre led off the game with a triple that one-hopped off the right-field wall, and Sosa slipped and fell chasing it.
Rodriguez worked for a full-count walk and Cabrera launched a drive way back into the left-center field bleachers. Rodriguez put his arm in the air as he circled the bases while a fan threw back the souvenir.
The homer marked the first time in the NLCS that the Marlins had scored in the first. And it seemed to stun Wood, who bounced a half-dozen pitches in the inning. But the Cubs were not down for long.
Eric Karros singled to start the second, Alex Gonzalez doubled and Damian Miller had an RBI groundout. That brought up Wood, a big boy who can swing the bat.
Wood put a charge into a 3-2 pitch, sending a shot into the left-center bleachers. He never even looked at the ball, dropping his head as he began his tying trot.
Back in the dugout, Wood worked his way down the bench, exchanging high-fives with everyone. The ballpark was pulsating and one fan heading back to his seat with beers set them down, hugged a security guard and slapped hands with other rooters.
Wood, with six career homers in the regular season, kept up his recent production at the plate. He had five RBIs this postseason -- more than AL All-Star hitters Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees and Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox combined.
Alou put Chicago ahead 5-3 with a two-run homer onto Waveland Avenue in the third. He also made a couple of neat catches, once flipping the ball into the seats -- right near the spot that caused so much trouble a day earlier -- after a diving grab that ended the fourth.
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