CHICAGO — The announcement flashed across the scoreboard at Wrigley Field a few minutes before 3 p.m. Friday.
The final vote from Florida had been counted. Tampa Bay's Fred McGriff had agreed to waive his no-trade clause to join the Cubs. A wave of cheers followed.
Nineteen days after the Cubs and Devil Rays agreed to swap McGriff for lightly regarded minor-leaguers Manny Aybar and Jason Smith, the veteran slugger finally decided that helping the Cubs chase a pennant beat staying close to his home in Tampa.
"I didn't want to make a hasty decision," McGriff said. "I knew I had time to think about it. I wanted to analyze things."
While McGriff said all along that family issues were paramount, it appears that financial considerations also played a role.
The game ended well for the Cubs as well, as Chicago beat St. Louis 4-3 on a tiebreaking homer hit by Michael Tucker, another recent Cubs' acquisition.
BRAVES 7, EXPOS: Greg Maddux won his 10th straight decision and extended his streak without a walk to 58 1/3 innings, pitching Atlanta over Montreal.
Maddux (14-5) joined Arizona's Curt Schilling and the Yankees' Roger Clemens as the majors' top winners.
Brian Jordan homered and drove in four runs and KenCaminiti also connected off Troy Mattes (3-3) as Atlanta won for the 20th time in its last 25 road games.
METS 6, PHILLIES 1: Mike Piazza homered twice and Steve Trachsel (5-10) beat Philadelphia for the second time in a week.
Piazza drove in three runs and Rey Ordonez drove in two as the Mets dropped Philadelphia out of first place in the NL East. The Phillies fell one game behind Atlanta.
REDS 10, MARLINS 5: Florida manager Tony Perez got a lot of warm ovations, but Adam Dunn received the loudest applause for his first homer as Cincinnati won.
Dunn hit a solo homer in the third inning, a drive into the second deck that was estimated at 425 feet and put the Reds ahead to stay in the third inning. The Reds' top power-hitting prospect was called up a week ago and has hit in all seven games, a debut that has given Reds fans something to cheer in a dreary season.
PIRATES 3, ASTROS 2: Aramis Ramirez's 20th home run broke a sixth-inning tie and helped Pittsburgh beat Houston.
Ramirez hit the first pitch of the inning from Shane Reynolds (9-10) over the center-field fence as Pittsburgh snapped a three-game losing streak.
BREWERS 8, PADRES 0: Jimmy Haynes (7-13) pitched five-hit ball for seven innings as Milwaukee beat San Diego for its second straight victory following an 11-game losing streak.
GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 5: Barry Bonds stayed ahead of Mark McGwire's record home run pace, hitting his 45th to lead San Francisco over Arizona.
DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2: Shawn Green hit a three-run homer and converted reliever Terry Adams (7-3) won his third straight start as Los Angeles beat Colorado to move into first place in the NL West.